health
Good news—we have extra time before the Sun ends life on Earth
It’s a bit worrying when a scientific paper begins, “How long will life on Earth survive?” But in this case—a study by Jacob Haqq‐Misra of Blue Marble Space and Eric Wolf at the University of Colorado Boulder—the billion-plus-year timeline under consideration shouldn’t cause you too much existential panic.
TL;DR
- A new study using a 3D climate model estimates life on Earth may last for nearly 1.9 billion more years.
- The study considers two scenarios: weak weathering (rising temperature, constant CO2) and strong weathering (constant temperature, falling CO2).
- In the weak weathering scenario, extreme heat will cause mass extinction of land plants.
- In the strong weathering scenario, low CO2 levels will limit plant survival.
- These new estimates are more optimistic than previous studies due to improved modeling and expanded survivable CO2 ranges.
- The findings are relevant for understanding the potential for life on other planets.