What Will Planet Earth Look Like in One Billion Years?
Exploring the Future: Earth's Transformation and Humanity's Fate
Imagining the Future of Planet Earth
What would planet Earth look like? Would most of its surface be covered in volcanoes? Or would it be frozen?
What if we went even farther away? Would all the oceans evaporate? Or would it become a vast water world?
Now, what if humans survived? Or would they settle somewhere else in the galaxy?
Frankly, the chances that humans will be there to greet you when you arrive in the future a billion years from now are very low.
Humanity is facing several major existential threats, and we will have to confront all of them if we want to survive a billion years from now.
We have seen how hard it has been for us to unite to survive a global pandemic.
So, how are we any likely to cope with the threats of climate change, overpopulation, global nuclear war, deadly asteroids and comets, natural ice ages, and a significant increase in the sun’s temperature?
So, let’s take a look into the future and find out.
Decimal Error and its Implications
We are going to face a big problem called the decimal error.
In 10,000 AD, the software that encodes the calendar year will not encode dates with more than four decimal places.
Remember Y2K? Yes, it's the same. Only, hopefully, this time we won't be so scared.
The good thing is that in 10,000 years, genetic differences and traits among humans will no longer be regional.
Traits like skin and hair color will be more evenly distributed around the world.
Maybe this will help us finally get along. None of today's languages will be recognizable.
Future languages will have only 1% of the basic vocabulary of their current counterparts.
The geological changes that will take place on Earth over millennia
Will mark a new glaciation for Earth, ushering in a new ice age.
Niagara Falls will be completely submerged in Lake Erie. Interestingly, a full day on Earth at this time will also increase by one second.
Lots more time for activities.
The Lo-Ihi volcano will erupt out of the water and create a new island in Hawaii.
An asteroid more than 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in diameter could hit Earth, unless we can stop it.
The resulting crater would be at least 400 km (248 miles) in diameter.
It would set the entire planet on fire and make the air unbreathable.
So there's something to look forward to. And if that's not enough, we'll probably have another supervolcanic eruption that will be big enough to spew 3,200 cubic kilometers (720 cubic miles) of ash.
It will produce enough lava to fill 75% of the Grand Canyon. Cosmic events that will shape our future
And by then, the nearby star Betelgeuse will have exploded in a supernova, making it visible from Earth even during the day.
Humanity will have settlements all over the solar system.
This also means that if populations on different planets lived separately, humans could evolve into other species adapted to their specific worlds.
A large part of East Africa would break apart, creating a new ocean basin.
In 50 million years, Africa would collide with Eurasia, closing off the Mediterranean Sea, and a new mountain range would form between the two landmasses.
This mountain range could include a mountain higher than Mount Everest.
In space, Mars would collide with its moon, resulting in the development of a ring system like Saturn's.
The Rocky Mountains of Canada and the US would be completely destroyed.
All of the Hawaiian Islands would be underwater.
Catastrophic events that could threaten life
An asteroid like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 millio years ago could hit Earth. One 10 km (6.2 mi) wide.
All of Earth's continents would join together like Pangea, except this time it would be called Pangea Ultima.
But don't get too attached to it, because in 400-500 million years, Pangea Ultima will break up again.
A gamma-ray burst is likely to occur less than 6,500 light-years from Earth.
If it hits Earth, it could damage the ozone layer and cause mass extinctions.
The Moon will be so far from Earth that total solar eclipses will no longer be possible.
And the Sun's increased brightness will raise the temperature on Earth so much that it could halt the movement of plate tectonics.
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels will drop dramatically, and photosynthesis will no longer be possible.
Free oxygen (O₂) and ozone (O₃) will disappear from the atmosphere in the future
And finally, the Sun's luminosity will increase by 10%, and Earth's average temperature will be 47°C (117°F).
Our atmosphere will look like a humid greenhouse. And our oceans will evaporate, leaving only a few drops of water at both poles.
When you get here in your time machine, mentally prepare to see a planet Earth that looks nothing like the planet you know...
Remember; The human race will become extinct, and hopefully live out its best life on some other remote planet.
Because of the intense heat, lack of water, and lack of breathable air, the Earth will become uninhabitable.
So you probably shouldn't stay there for too long. Instead, you should go out and explore the rest of the solar system.
Maybe you'll find your fellow humans or some other intelligent life form there. But that's another story.
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