(OPINION) According to scientists, this is how the world ends – not with a bang, but a ‘triple whammy’ event.
A combination of failing food supplies, rising sea levels, and areas of the planet becoming too hot to live will ultimately lead to the extinction of almost all mammals, including humans.
However, the cause may not be what you imagine.
While climate change is a real threat to today’s population, this apocalyptic scenario, predicted by a supercomputer, will be caused by all the continents crashing into each other to form one giant landmass.
A hot, dry and largely uninhabitable supercontinent – luckily 250 million years from now.
By this point in the future, the Sun will be brighter and warm the Earth more, while the supercontinent formation will lead to more frequent volcanic eruptions that will produce high releases of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Together this will lead to the Earth being between 40 to 50C.
Lead author Dr Alexander Farnsworth, from the University of Bristol, said: ‘The newly-emerged supercontinent would effectively create a triple whammy, comprising the continentality effect, hotter Sun and more CO2 in the atmosphere, of increasing heat for much of the planet.’
Continentality is one factor effecting the climate depending on how far areas are from the sea.
‘The result is a mostly hostile environment devoid of food and water sources for mammals,’ said Dr Farnsworth. ‘Humans and many other species would expire due to their inability to shed this heat through sweat, cooling their bodies.’
The international team of scientists applied climate models, simulating temperature, wind, rain, and humidity trends for the next supercontinent. To estimate the future level of CO2, the team used models of tectonic plate movement, ocean chemistry, and biology to map out the gas’s inputs and outputs.
The model predicts that when the supercontinent – Pangea Ultima – forms, only 8% and 16% of the land will be habitable for mammals.
However, co-author Dr Eunice Lo said it was important not to focus on the future scenario but instead concentrate on the present.
‘It is vitally important not to lose sight of our current climate crisis, which results from human emissions of greenhouse gases,’ she said.
‘While we are predicting an uninhabitable planet in 250 million years, today we are already experiencing extreme heat that is detrimental to human health. This is why it is crucial to reach net-zero emissions as soon as possible.’
