Humans and other mammals will disappear from Earth in 250 million years , according to a new study . According to a computer simulation , the continents will shift and form a huge single land mass, a supercontinent , that will be too hot and dry to support life.
The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, was based on a simulation model of the Earth and predicts continental drift and major atmospheric changes. It suggests that in 250 million years, a volcanic supercontinent, which the researchers have named Pangaea Ultima. It will be located in the tropical region of the Earth along the equator.
See also: NASA: Brought 250 grams of dust from the asteroid Bennu to Earth
It would not be the first supercontinent to appear on our planet, as previous geological research has shown that an original supercontinent, Pangaea, existed between about 300 and 180 million years ago before it began to break up and create the continental structures we know today.
The new model shows that collisions between land masses could create a supercontinent full of volcanoes, releasing carbon. The change in terrain, combined with increased solar energy and higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, would likely make conditions in Pangaea Ultima “unsuitable for mammals.” The study says that the projected carbon dioxide levels combined with a brighter sun “will likely lead to a climate tipping point” that would cause a “mass extinction” of Earth’s mammals, including humans.
Alex Farnsworth, a meteorologist, paleoclimate modeler at the University of Bristol and lead author of the study, explained that temperatures on the supercontinent will be very high and will increase more each month.
See also: Space debris nearly collided in Earth's orbit
“Mammals are, evolutionarily, one of the great survivors of the order, able to live in many climates and environments since they became dominant after the K/Pg,” Farnsworth wrote. K/Pg, short for Cretaceous-Paleogene, was a mass extinction event on Earth that wiped out all the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. Scientists estimate that the first mammals appeared on Earth somewhere between 170 and 225 million years ago, with the first documented ancestors of humans appearing much later.
Despite surviving the extinction of the dinosaurs, mammals have certain “thermal limits,” meaning they can only tolerate a certain range of temperatures, according to Farnsworth. And, as the new study suggests, much of the supercontinent would be in the tropics, which means lots of heat and dryness in the interior and heat and humidity around the coasts. Most of the land on Pangaea Ultima is predicted to be hotter than 40 degrees Celsius during the hottest months of the year, with very little rainfall throughout.
See also: Parker Solar Probe – Sun: The spacecraft passed through a coronal mass ejection
The researchers also suggested that life could become extinct on Pangaea Ultima if temperatures rose to such an extent that plants would be unable to photosynthesize, which would ultimately mean very little oxygen in the atmosphere. However, more research is needed to assess how plants might adapt to this future environment.
Climate change may even affect the future geological structure of the Earth, the study predicts. The impacts of climate change are not limited to rising temperatures, but extend to atmospheric changes, changes in sea and pressure on ecosystems. It is essential to understand and address the challenges of climate change, not only for the current generation, but also for future ones. However, the data shows that the search for exoplanets, which could support life, is more important than ever.
Source: www.cbsnews.com
