Answer 1:
This is a very good question; unfortunately no one really knows. However we can consider different answers based on different time scales. Start with the longest timescales:
The Sun, a type G Main sequence type star has enough Nuclear fuel to continue to operate more or less as it does now for another 5 billion years more or less. At that time, the Sun will enter its death stage and swell up to become a RED GIANT star. When that happens it will swallow the Earth as it will expand to a HUGE size. So the Earth will be gone!
But 5 billion years is a long time from now. Note that the Earth itself is about 4.5 billion years old … so we have nothing to worry about.
But in the more immediate future … there are a lot of ways that Earth can become uninhabitable for humans but not for other life forms.
For example, if there was a 10 km size asteroid that collided with Earth, a significant fraction of all life forms would become extinct including humans; the microbes would probably be fine however.
Or even more close to room… Humans now numbering 7,400,000,000 billion are having a major and often negative effect on the environment by plastic pollution and by putting a lot of CO2 and methane, both greenhouse gases into the fragile atmosphere. These factors are making the Earth less optimal for humans.
But although we cant control the future of the Sun or the low chances of being hit by an asteroid (we may be able to use technology to deflect its orbit but this capability is not available now), we can do something about plastic pollution and greenhouse gases. This is a CHOICE that humanity can make... it can be a wise choice or it can be a poor choice. It is up to us now and to you and your generation of humans. Click Here to return to the search form.
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