Space3 min(s) read
Terrifyingly, a team of scientific researchers has predicted the exact date the world will end, and while it’s startling, there is no need to start stockpiling supplies.
Advanced computer technology used climate data and supercomputer analysis to determine that Planet Earth will cease to exist in the year 1,000,002,021. According to their findings, the ever-increasing global temperature will gradually push Earth past the point where life can survive on it.
The 2021 study, published in Nature Geoscience by Kazumi Ozaki and Christopher T. Reinhard, reports that the planet will eventually be stripped of the oxygen necessary for survival, making it impossible for human life to continue.
As reported by the Daily Star, the researchers revealed: "Earth's modern atmosphere is highly oxygenated and is a remotely detectable signal of its surface biosphere.
"However, the lifespan of oxygen-based biosignatures in Earth's atmosphere remains uncertain, particularly for the distant future. Here we use a combined biogeochemistry and climate model to examine the likely timescale of oxygen-rich atmospheric conditions on Earth."
The scientists from NASA and Japan's Toho University used an integrated biogeochemistry and climate model to examine how long Earth's atmosphere will maintain oxygen-rich conditions capable of animal and plant life.
Scarily, they revealed that sustaining sufficient oxygen levels in the atmosphere isn't a "permanent" feature for any of the planets, meaning none of them will last forever. However, on the bright side, unless nuclear weapons destroy the planet first, we should all live to see our grandchildren, and they should meet theirs.
Although the discoveries are both unsettling and reassuring at the same time, they highlight the urgent need for action to be taken against the climate crisis and rapidly rising global temperature.
The report also highlights the need to "search for life on Earth-like planets beyond our Solar System" as a critical step for humanity's survival beyond the year 1,000,002,021.
Shortly before this report was released, researchers at the University of Bristol used computer simulations to forecast the future of the Earth. They predicted that the continents as we know them would merge once again to form a new supercontinent they have labelled Pangea Ultima. However, the extreme heat will lead to the extinction of millions of species, including all mammals and humans.
Dr Alexander Farnsworth, the study's lead author and senior research associate at the University of Bristol, stated: "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.
"The result is a mostly hostile environment devoid of food and water sources for mammals.”
