4 ms·

In four billion years the Earth might be engulfed (or at least fried lifeless) by the Sun. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth https://en.wikiped

In four billion years the Earth might be engulfed (or at least fried lifeless) by the Sun. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth

beat 7y ago
Out of curiosity, I looked it up, and it seems like there's less than a billion years left for life as we know it on Earth before the Sun sterilizes the planet. That doesn't mean some of our descendants won't figure out ways to move farther out in the Solar System (or to other planetary systems), to survive it.
- jandrese 7y ago
  It seems like we might sterilize the Earth ourselves long before the Sun has a chance to.
  - beat 7y ago
    We are a long way from being able to sterilize the Earth. Heck, I don't think we could even wipe out humanity - or even civilization - much less all the myriad forms of life out there that thrive in conditions that would kill humans instantly. (Go to Yellowstone, see the brightly colored pools of boiling volcanic mud, realize those pools are brightly colored because they're full of living beings...) I think what we're looking at right now is making life a little more uncomfortable and expensive for part of humanity. That's as bad as we can manage right now. The fact that we treat it like the end of the world says more about us than the damage itself does.
    - outworlder 7y ago
      > Heck, I don't think we could even wipe out humanity - or even civilization You are talking about global warming and the like, right? There's another possibility, and it involves nuclear weapons. THOSE can sterilize the planet many times over.
      - _Microft 7y ago
        No, surprisingly not. There's life in places that even nukes won't reach. Example: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490451.2019.1641770?journalCode=ugmb20 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490451.2019.16...
      - shkkmo 7y ago
        While we MIGHT be able to wipe humanity off the planet with nuclear weapons [0] and would certainly create a mass extinction event, it is extremely unlikely we would be able to sterilize the earth. Even if we somehow manage to wipe out all multi-cellular life (which would, at a minimum, require completely vaporizing our oceans to expose deep ocean vents), it would take massively more destruction to wipe out all single celled life on the planet (which would likely require removing the entire planet's crust.) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust#Likelihood_of_complete_human_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust#Likelihood_o...
      - beat 7y ago
        Yes, I'm talking about global warming and other environmental damage, not nuclear war. But we're a long, long ways off from nuclear war being able to sterilize the planet. I don't think nuclear war could even end civilization - there are too many countries not in the nuclear club who probably wouldn't be targets in a nuclear war. Would someone bother to nuke, say, Copenhagen? Or Cairo? Or Bangkok? Or the entire South American continent? I can't even think of nuclear targets in the southern hemisphere, which would be somewhat isolated from fallout etc as well thanks to distance and equatorial weather patterns.

In four billion years the Earth might be engulfed (or at least fried lifeless) by the Sun. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth

beat 7y ago

Out of curiosity, I looked it up, and it seems like there's less than a billion years left for life as we know it on Earth before the Sun sterilizes the planet. That doesn't mean some of our descendants won't figure out ways to move farther out in the Solar System (or to other planetary systems), to survive it.

jandrese 7y ago
It seems like we might sterilize the Earth ourselves long before the Sun has a chance to.
- beat 7y ago
  We are a long way from being able to sterilize the Earth. Heck, I don't think we could even wipe out humanity - or even civilization - much less all the myriad forms of life out there that thrive in conditions that would kill humans instantly. (Go to Yellowstone, see the brightly colored pools of boiling volcanic mud, realize those pools are brightly colored because they're full of living beings...) I think what we're looking at right now is making life a little more uncomfortable and expensive for part of humanity. That's as bad as we can manage right now. The fact that we treat it like the end of the world says more about us than the damage itself does.
  - outworlder 7y ago
    > Heck, I don't think we could even wipe out humanity - or even civilization You are talking about global warming and the like, right? There's another possibility, and it involves nuclear weapons. THOSE can sterilize the planet many times over.
    - _Microft 7y ago
      No, surprisingly not. There's life in places that even nukes won't reach. Example: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490451.2019.1641770?journalCode=ugmb20 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490451.2019.16...
    - shkkmo 7y ago
      While we MIGHT be able to wipe humanity off the planet with nuclear weapons [0] and would certainly create a mass extinction event, it is extremely unlikely we would be able to sterilize the earth. Even if we somehow manage to wipe out all multi-cellular life (which would, at a minimum, require completely vaporizing our oceans to expose deep ocean vents), it would take massively more destruction to wipe out all single celled life on the planet (which would likely require removing the entire planet's crust.) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust#Likelihood_of_complete_human_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust#Likelihood_o...
    - beat 7y ago
      Yes, I'm talking about global warming and other environmental damage, not nuclear war. But we're a long, long ways off from nuclear war being able to sterilize the planet. I don't think nuclear war could even end civilization - there are too many countries not in the nuclear club who probably wouldn't be targets in a nuclear war. Would someone bother to nuke, say, Copenhagen? Or Cairo? Or Bangkok? Or the entire South American continent? I can't even think of nuclear targets in the southern hemisphere, which would be somewhat isolated from fallout etc as well thanks to distance and equatorial weather patterns.