Earth Unfit for Life in 1.3B Years

Scientists from NASA and the European Space Agency have determined that the natural evolution of the Sun will render our planet unsuitable for most forms of life. According to a report from Live Science, this is due to a gradual increase in temperature and humidity resulting from the sun’s increasing brightness.

Ravi Copparapu, a scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, explains that the solar system will endure its end in approximately 4.5 billion years, when the sun transforms into a red giant and engulfs the Earth. At this stage, the sun will deplete its hydrogen reserves essential for sustaining nuclear fusion and will begin to die.

However, Earth may face this future much sooner. Copparape suggests that the oceans could evaporate within 2 billion years, as the sun’s brightness increases by 20%. The extreme heat and humidity levels would make the planet uninhabitable for human life. He further warns that the “wet bulb temperature” (a combination of temperature, humidity, wind speed, sunlight angle, and cloud cover) that prevents cooling through sweating is already dangerously close. In fact, in some regions such as the Middle East, these conditions could become the norm by the end of this century.

Rodolfo Garcia, a graduate student in astronomy and astrobiology at the University of Washington, emphasizes that humanity and other complex life forms are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Even a slight increase in body temperature by 3.3 degrees Celsius could prove fatal for humans.

Thus, while the eventual demise of Earth is tied to the Sun’s evolution, the threat to humanity and other life forms may arise much earlier due to anthropogenic climate change and the potential for nuclear war. Copparape remarks that “the next hundred years will be interesting” for humanity.