Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




FLORA AND FAUNA
New date set for end of life on Earth -- in 2 billion years
by Staff Writers
St. Andrews, Scotland (UPI) Jul 2, 2013


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Scientists have set a new date for the end of the world, when all animals and plants will vanish from Earth -- but it'll take another 2 billion years.

While increases of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have people concerned about the planet's future, the scientists say it will in fact be a lack of the greenhouse gas that will bring the end to life, the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

In less than a billion years, as the sun ages and grows hotter, and greater evaporation and chemical reactions with rainwater take away more and more carbon dioxide, its levels will be too low for photosynthesizing plants to survive, they say.

Herbivorous animals will die out with the loss of plants, and carnivores will die off when they can no longer prey on herbivores -- and life as we know it will cease to exist on Earth.

"The far-future Earth will be very hostile to life by this point," astrobiologist Jack O'Malley-James of the University of St Andrews in Scotland said. "All living things require liquid water, so any remaining life will be restricted to pockets of liquid water, perhaps at cooler, higher altitudes or in caves underground."

The only surviving organisms -- hardy microbes known as extremophiles -- would have to cope with extreme high temperatures and intense ultraviolet radiation that would likely kill them off eventually, he said.

O'Malley-James said he based his predictions on a computer simulation of the impact long-term changes to the sun are likely to have on Earth.

.


Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FLORA AND FAUNA
Mapping Out How to Save Species
Raleigh, NC (SPX) Jul 02, 2013
In stunning color, new biodiversity research from North Carolina State University maps out priority areas worldwide that hold the key to protecting vulnerable species and focusing conservation efforts. The research, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pinpoints the highest global concentrations of mammals, amphibians and birds on a scale that's 100 times fi ... read more


FLORA AND FAUNA
REACTing to a crisis

RESCUE Consortium Demonstrates Technologies for First Responders

India chopper crash kills 20 as flood rescue forges on

India rescue chopper crash death toll rises to 20

FLORA AND FAUNA
Making hydrogenation greener

Inmarsat's First Fully Assembled Global Xpress Satellite Achieves Significant Testing Milestone

The quantum secret to alcohol reactions in space

Study refutes claims world is running out of copper

FLORA AND FAUNA
Red Cross cartoon to demystify Pacific climate change

Greenhouse gas likely altering ocean foodchain

Breakthrough in El Nino forecasting

El Nino unusually active in the late 20th century

FLORA AND FAUNA
CryoSat maps largest-ever flood beneath Antarctica

Is Arctic Permafrost the "Sleeping Giant" of Climate Change?

The rhythm of the Arctic summer

Global cooling as significant as global warming

FLORA AND FAUNA
Workers at industrial farms carry drug-resistant bacteria associated with livestock

Improving crop yields in a world of extreme weather events

Cattle flatulence doesn't stink with biotechnology

Balancing food security and environmental quality in China

FLORA AND FAUNA
Scramble to reach Indonesia quake survivors as toll hits 22

Dalila grows into hurricane off Mexico coast

India bans building along rivers in flood-hit north

Five dead, dozens injured in Indonesia quake

FLORA AND FAUNA
UN intervention force raises hopes in DR Congo

Grenade strike kills aid worker in Sudan's Darfur: UN

Military claims 100 attackers killed in central Nigeria

UN peacekeepers take over ahead of Mali polls

FLORA AND FAUNA
Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world's highest places

What Is the Fastest Articulated Motion a Human Can Execute?

Skull find challenges claim about first white man in eastern Australia

Lessons at home and homework at school in US




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement