A graduate student at the University of Anglia, Andrew Rushby, has undertaken the task of measuring how long life can survive on Earth. According to him, in a matter of some 1.75 billion years, all life on Earth will be vanquished due to severe circumstances.
Rushby’s estimates hinge upon the changes that are expected in the Sun. Earth will continue to be hospitable to different life forms as long as there’s an adequate distance between the Sun and the Earth. If Earth gets too close to the Sun, the temperature would bump up significantly and all life would cease. If it gets away from the Sun, it will be too cold to support life.
However, our dear planet will not always be at an ideal distance from the Sun. According to the paper published by Rushby, the Sun is sure to increase in size and once that does happen, Earth would become a part of the ‘hot zone’, with temperatures too hot for any life form.
This, he predicts, is bound to happen in about 1.75 billion years from now. While that does sound like a doomsday prediction, we’re sure most of us are going to wave it away by doing a few calculations and realizing that 1.75 billion years are going to take a while to pass.
Nonetheless, Rushby’s predictions and calculations may provide valuable material for other scientists working on determining if there are any other hospitable planets out there. If such a planet is found, it may support the possibility that life exists on planets other than Earth.
Courtesy: LA Times