The formation of the next supercontinent may not be habitable for mammals

Although the Earth is a sphere, its surface is made up of many plates. These plates are not fixed in place, but float on the mantle fluid like wooden boards. About every 400 million to 600 million years, the drifting plates will gather together to form a supercontinent. This supercontinent will split up again, and then gather again, repeating the cycle over and over again.

The Earth is currently in a supercontinent cycle, and the next supercontinent is expected to form in 250 million years. Will humans still exist by then?

Copyright images in the gallery. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes.

A team led by Dr. Alexander Farnsworth, a senior research associate at the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol, used computers to simulate the Earth's climate 250 million years from now. The simulation results show that with the movement and collision of continental plates, volcanoes will become very active, spewing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing the Earth to warm up. In the worst case, the concentration of carbon dioxide will be more than twice the current level. At that time, the Earth will face high temperatures of 40 to 70 degrees Celsius every day, which is not conducive to the survival of mammals, including humans. By then, except for a few mammals, the vast majority of mammals, including humans, and even other types of life forms such as plants, will face the threat of mass extinction. This research result was published in the recent "Nature-Geoscience".

Research has pointed out that the reason for the rise in the earth's temperature is not only the increase in carbon dioxide concentration, but also the increase in solar radiation. After the sun continues to burn for 250 million years from now, it will consume more hydrogen in its inner core, its core will shrink, and the speed of nuclear fusion will increase, which will increase the brightness of the sun by 2.5%, and this result will further aggravate the warming of the earth. By then, the central land area far from the ocean will become a desert, lacking the food and water needed by mammals, and most other areas of the earth will no longer be suitable for human and other mammals to survive.

Copyright images in the gallery. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes.

Mammals first appeared about 310 million years ago and have survived several extreme climate changes and mass extinctions on Earth, but have survived and become the dominant species on Earth, thanks to their strong adaptability to climate change. But it seems that mammals are more adaptable to cold environments , relying on their fur and hibernation to survive, but when faced with extreme high temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, they are helpless.

Although it is predicted that the Earth will become uninhabitable in 250 million years , which is still a long way from now, we should not ignore the climate crisis that is currently taking shape. The large amount of greenhouse gas emissions by humans has caused global warming. In this study, researchers also calculated the future carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere. The results showed that in the next millions of years, the carbon dioxide content may rise from about 400 parts per million today to more than 600 parts per million. And this is the data obtained under the premise that humans immediately stop using fossil fuels. If humans continue to use fossil fuels, this day will come faster.

What we need to do is to act as soon as possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, reduce global warming caused by human activities, and make the earth a more suitable home for all living things.

References

[1]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01259-3?utm_medium=organic_social&utm_source=zhihu&utm_campaign=CONR_PF020_ENGM_AP_CNCM_002EA_weeklyS

Planning and production

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Zeng Xinyue Popular Science Creator Reviewer: Huangfu Jingliang Associate Researcher, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Editor: Zhong Yanping Qi Yuan (Intern)