Instruction

There are factors that are well known modern science. For example, the movement of the continents. Of course you know that Earth's crust plastic and that the continents do not stand still. There was a single ancient one - Pangea, which in prehistoric times was divided into parts of the land known today. Continental drift continues unabated. But in what direction? There are two main versions. The first is their unification into Neopangea.

The second version - the movement of the continents will lead to the fact that they all line up in one line along the equator of the globe. This version is confirmed by the action of centrifugal forces known to everyone from school physics - after all, the earth rotates non-stop. Then all the inhabitants of the Earth will have an exclusively tropical and subtropical climate.

One cannot discount the apocalyptic ideas about the future of the Earth. The future of the planet largely depends on the actions of those beyond human control. space forces: meteorites, comets, asteroids, solar radiation ... Even the old moon is a certain danger to the Earth if for any reason it leaves its orbit.

And yet, despite doubts, artists paint a wonderful world of the future. Just like scientists, they start from the facts and trends known to date and extend their imagination into times far, far away. For example: if there are modern skyscrapers, then in the future they will become even more grandiose.

Buildings made of glass and concrete are crowding out plants from city streets? This means that in the future it will be impossible to see in the cities neither a tree, nor a bush, nor grass, nor a flower ...

Is transport developing intensively and rapidly? This means that the transport of the future will become even more diverse and convenient.

Human civilization is developing very quickly. Only five thousand years ago, the first nodular writing appeared - and today we have already learned how to exchange terabytes of information at the speed of light. And the pace of progress is growing.

Predicting what human impact on our planet will look like even in a thousand years is almost impossible. However, scientists like to fantasize about what the future holds for the Earth if our civilization suddenly disappears. Let us, following them, imagine an unusual situation: for example, in the 22nd century all earthlings will fly away to Alpha Centauri - in this case, what awaits our abandoned world?

global extinction

Through its activities, mankind constantly influences the natural cycle of substances. In fact, we have become another element capable of causing a cataclysm of unprecedented proportions. We are changing the biosphere and climate, extracting minerals and producing mountains of garbage. But, despite our power, it will take only a few thousand years for nature to return to its former "wild" state. Skyscrapers will collapse, tunnels will collapse, communications will rust, dense forest will conquer the territory of cities.

Since emissions carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will stop, then nothing can prevent the onset of a new ice age - this will happen in about 25 thousand years. The glacier will begin to advance from the north, holding down Europe, Siberia and part of the North American continent.

It is clear that the last evidence of the existence of civilization will be buried and ground into fine dust under many kilometers of creeping ice. However, the biosphere will suffer the most damage. Having mastered the planet, mankind practically destroyed natural ecological niches, which led to one of the most mass extinctions of animals in history.

The departure of humanity will not stop this process, because the chains of interaction of organisms have already been broken. Extinction will continue for more than 5 million years. Large mammals and many species of birds will completely disappear. The biological diversity of fauna will decrease. An obvious evolutionary advantage will be received by genetically modified plants, which scientists have adapted to the most severe conditions of existence.

Such plants run wild, but being protected from pests, they will quickly capture the vacated niches, giving rise to new species. Moreover, during these millions of years, two dwarf stars will pass close to the Sun, which will inevitably lead to a change in the planetary characteristics of the Earth, a hail of comets will fall on the planet. Such catastrophic phenomena will further accelerate the pestilence among the species of animals and plants known to us. Who will replace them?

Rebirth of Pangea

It has long been established that the earth's continents move, albeit very slowly: at a speed of several centimeters per year. During a human life, this drift is practically imperceptible, but over millions of years it can radically change the geography of the Earth.

In the Paleozoic era, there was a single continent Pangea on the planet, washed by the waves of the World Ocean from all sides (scientists gave the ocean a separate name - Panthalassa). Approximately 200 million years ago, the supercontinent split into two, which, in turn, also continued to break up. Now the planet is waiting for the reverse process - the next reunification of land into a common colossal territory, which scientists have dubbed Neopangea (or Pangea Ultima).

It will look something like this: in 30 million years, Africa will merge into Eurasia; in 60 million years Australia will crash into East Asia; in 150 million years, Antarctica will join the Eurasian-African-Australian supercontinent; in 250 million years both Americas will be added to them - the process of formation of Neopangea will be completed.

Continental drift and collision will significantly affect the climate. New mountain ranges will appear, changing the movement of air currents. Due to the fact that ice will cover most of the Neopangea, the level of the World Ocean will noticeably decrease. The global temperature of the planet will fall, but the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere will increase. In regions with a tropical climate (and there will always be such, despite the cooling), an explosive multiplication of species will begin.

Insects (cockroaches, scorpions, dragonflies, centipedes) develop best in such an environment, and again, as in the Carboniferous period, they will become the real "kings" of nature. At the same time, the central regions of Neopangea will be an endless scorched desert, since rain clouds simply cannot reach them. The temperature difference between the central and coastal regions of the supercontinent will cause monstrous monsoons and hurricanes.

However, Neopangea will not last long by historical standards - about 50 million years. Due to powerful volcanic activity, colossal cracks will cut through the supercontinent, and parts of Neopangea will separate, setting off into “free floating”. The planet will again enter a period of warming, and the level of oxygen will fall, threatening the biosphere with another mass extinction. Some chance of survival will remain for those creatures that will adapt to life on the border of land and ocean - first of all, amphibians.

New person

In the press and science fiction, one can come across speculative assertions that man continues to evolve, and in a few million years our descendants will be as different from us as we are different from monkeys. In fact, human evolution stopped at the moment when we found ourselves outside natural selection, gaining independence from changes in the external environment and defeating most diseases.

Modern medicine makes it possible to be born and grow up even to such children who would be doomed to death in the womb. In order for a person to start evolving again, he must lose his mind and return to an animal state (before the invention of fire and stone tools), and this is almost impossible due to the high development of our brain. Therefore, if ever on Earth appears new person, then it is unlikely to come from our evolutionary branch.

For example, our descendants can enter into a symbiosis with a closely related species: when a weaker but smarter monkey controls a more massive and formidable creature, literally living on its back. Another exotic option is that a person will move to the ocean, becoming another marine mammal, but due to climate change and a lack of resources, he will return to land in the form of a clumsy "aquabiota" crawling in search of food. Or the development of telepathic abilities will direct the evolution of new people in an unexpected direction: there will be communities of "hive" in which individuals will be specialized, like bees or ants ...

After 250 million years, the galactic year will end, that is, the solar system will make a complete revolution around the center of the Galaxy. By that time, the Earth will be completely transformed, and any of us, if he gets into such a distant future, is unlikely to recognize his native planet in it. The only thing that will remain at that time from our entire civilization is the small footprints on the moon left by American astronauts.

Paleontologists have established that mass extinctions of animals have been a periodic phenomenon in the Earth's past. There are five mass extinctions: Ordovician-Silurian, Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous-Paleogene. The most terrible was the "great" Permian extinction 252 million years ago, which killed 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial animal species. Moreover, it also affected insects, which usually manage to avoid disastrous consequences biospheric catastrophe.

Scientists have not been able to determine the causes of the global pestilence. The most popular hypothesis is that a sharp increase in volcanic activity, which changed not only the climate, but also the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

Anton Pervushin

Over 68% of fresh water is in a solid state, including glaciers, snow cover and permafrost. The ice sheet contains about 80% of all fresh water planets. Scientists are inclined to believe that at current rates it will take more than 5 thousand years to melt all the ice on the planet, but if this happens, the level will rise by more than 60 meters. On these maps you will see the world as it would be if all the glaciers melted. The thin white lines mark land boundaries that still exist today.

Europe

Thousands of years later, under such a scenario, Denmark and the Netherlands would almost entirely become part of the sea, including the capital and Largest cities Europe. In Russia, this fate would have befallen the second largest city of St. Petersburg. In addition, the expanding waters of the Black and Caspian Seas would swallow up many coastal and inland cities, most of which are in Russia.

North America

In this case, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean will completely bury the state of Florida and many coastal cities in the United States. Significant territories of Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama will also be under water.

South America

The waters of the Amazon will become a giant bay, as will the waters of the confluence of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers on the southeast coast. South America. Under water will be the capitals of Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Peru, as well as a large number of coastal cities.

Africa

Had there been a global ice melt, Africa would have lost less land than other continents. But a rise in the Earth's temperature would make part of Africa uninhabitable. The northwestern part of the continent would suffer the most, as a result of which the Gambia will almost completely go under water, and part of the land will be significantly affected near Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

Asia

As a result of the melting of ice, all the states of Asia, one way or another having access to the sea, will suffer. Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, part of Vietnam will suffer to a large extent. Singapore and Bangladesh will go completely under water.

Australia

The continent, which will almost completely turn into a desert, will acquire a new inland sea, but will lose all the coastal cities in which most of the population currently lives. Today, if you leave the coast and go deep into Australia for about 200 kilometers, you can find only sparsely populated areas.

Antarctica

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on Earth and is approximately 10 times larger than the Greenland ice sheet. The ice reserves of Antarctica are 26.5 million km³. The average ice thickness on this continent is 2.5 km, but in some areas it reaches a maximum value of 4.8 km. Studies show that due to the severity of the ice cover, the continent sank by 0.5 km. This is what Antarctica would look like without the ice sheet.

Miscellaneous

What will the Earth look like in 5000 years?

February 28, 2018

Over the past five thousand years human civilization made significant progress in its technological development. The appearance of our planet today is a clear indicator of how much we are able to change the natural landscape.

people and energy

People have learned to influence not only the landscape, but also the climate and biodiversity of the planet. We have learned to build giant skyscrapers for the living and huge pyramids for the dead. Perhaps the most important technological knowledge and skill that we have acquired in the process of developing science and culture is the ability to use the energy of the world around us: geothermal, solar, wind, and so on.

We can already extract energy from the atmosphere and the bowels of the Earth, but we need more and more all the time.

This inexhaustible appetite for more and more energy has always determined and continues to determine the development of global human civilization. It is he who will become the engine of development in the next five thousand years and dictate what life on planet Earth will look like in 7010 AD.

Kardashev scale

In 1964, Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev put forward a theory about the technological development of civilizations. According to his theory, the technological progress and development of a particular civilization is directly related to the total amount of energy subject to its representatives.

Taking into account the stated principles, Kardashev singled out three classes of advanced galactic civilizations:

• Type I civilizations have learned to control all the total energy of their planet, including its bowels, atmosphere and satellites.
• Type II civilizations have mastered the star system and mastered its total energy.
• Type III civilizations control energy on a galactic scale.

Cosmology often uses this so-called Kardashev scale to predict the technological progress of future and alien civilizations.

Type I civilization

Modern humans don't even appear on the scale yet. In fact, the global human civilization belongs to the zero type, that is, it is not advanced. Scientists are sure that in a relatively short time we will be able to achieve the status of a civilization of the first type. Kardashev himself predicted that this moment would come. But when?

Theoretical futurist physicist Michio Kaku predicts that the transition will occur within a century, while his colleague, physicist Freeman Dyson, suggests that it will take twice as long for humans to reach the status of an advanced civilization.

Kardashev, during a discussion of his theory, predicted that humanity would reach the status of a Type II civilization in 3,200 years.

If humanity can only reach the rank of Type I civilization in five thousand years, this will mean that we will be able to freely control atmospheric and geothermal forces and processes. This means that we can decide environmental problems, however, wars and self-destruction could still threaten the survival of humanity as a species even in 7020.

Type II civilization

If the planet Earth reaches Type II status in 5,000 years, then the people of the 71st century will have enormous technological power. Dyson suggested that such a civilization would be able to surround the star with satellites in order to use its energy. In addition, the technological achievements of such a civilization will most certainly include the possibility of interstellar travel, the creation of off-planet colonies and the movement of space objects, not to mention achievements in computer technology and genetics.

Humans in such a future are likely to be vastly different from us, not only culturally, but possibly genetically as well. Futurists and philosophers call the future representative of our civilization a posthuman or transhuman.

Despite these predictions, a lot can happen to our planet and to us in five thousand years. We could destroy humanity with a nuclear war, or unwittingly ruin the planet. At the present level, we will not be able to cope with the threat of a collision with a meteorite or a comet. Theoretically, we could face alien civilization Type II long before we ourselves reach the same level.

Source: fb.ru

Actual

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous

The approximate age of mankind is 200 thousand years, and during this time it has encountered huge amount changes. Since its appearance on African continent we managed to colonize the whole world and even reached the moon. Beringia, which once connected Asia with North America long gone under water. What changes or developments could we expect if humanity lasts another billion years?

Well, let's start with the future in 10 thousand years. We will face the problem of the 10,000th year. Software that encodes the AD calendar will no longer be able to encode dates from now on. This will become a real problem, and furthermore, if the current trends of globalization continue, human genetic variation by this point will no longer be organized along regional lines. This means that all human genetic traits, such as skin and hair color, will be distributed evenly across the planet.

In 20,000 years, the languages ​​of the world will only contain one in a hundred dictionary words their modern analogues. In essence, everything modern languages lose their recognition.

In 50 thousand years, the second ice Age, despite current effects global warming. Niagara Falls will be completely washed away by the Erie River and disappear. Due to glacial uplift and erosion, the numerous lakes of the Canadian Shield will also cease to exist. In addition, a day on Earth will increase by one second, which will add a leap second to each day.

In 100,000 years, the stars and constellations visible from Earth will be strikingly different from today. In addition, according to preliminary calculations, this is how long it will take to completely transform Mars into a habitable planet like the Earth.

In 250,000 years, the Loihi volcano will rise above the surface, forming a new island in the Hawaiian Islands chain.

In 500 thousand years, an asteroid with a diameter of 1 km will very likely crash into the Earth if humanity does not somehow prevent this. BUT national park The Badlands in South Dakota will be completely gone by now.

In 950,000 years, Meteor Crater in Arizona, considered the best-preserved meteorite impact crater on the planet, will be completely eroded away.

In 1 million years, the Earth is likely to experience a monstrous volcanic eruption, which will throw out 3,200 cubic meters of ash. It will be reminiscent of the 70,000-year-old Toba super-eruption that nearly wiped out humanity. In addition, the star Betelgeuse will explode as a supernova, and this can be observed from Earth even in the daytime.

Context

Russian service BBC 06.12.2016 In 2 million years, the Grand Canyon will collapse even more, deepen a little and expand to the size of a large valley. If humanity has colonized various planets by that time solar system and the Universe, and the population of each of them will develop separately from each other, humanity will probably evolve into different species. They adapt to the conditions of their planets and, perhaps, will not even know about the existence of other species of their own kind in the Universe.

After 10 million years, a significant part West Africa separated from the rest of the continent. A new ocean basin will form between them, and Africa will be divided into two separate pieces of land.

In 50 million years, Mars' moon Phobos will crash into its planet, causing widespread destruction. And on Earth, the rest of Africa will collide with Eurasia and “close” the Mediterranean Sea forever. Between the two joined layers, a new mountain range is formed, similar in size to the Himalayas, one of the peaks of which may be higher than Everest.

In 60 million years, the Canadian Rockies will be razed to the ground, turning into a flat plain.

In 80 million years, all the Hawaiian Islands will sink, and in 100 million years, the Earth will probably collide with an asteroid similar to the one that destroyed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, unless, of course, the catastrophe is artificially prevented. By this time, among other things, the rings around Saturn will disappear.

In 240 million years, the Earth will finally complete a complete revolution around the center of the galaxy from its current position.

In 250 million years, all the continents of our planet will merge into one, like Pangea. One of the variants of its name is Pangea Ultima, and it will look something like in the picture.

Then, after 400-500 million years, the supercontinent will again be divided into parts.

After 500-600 million years at a distance of 6 thousand 500 light years from earth happen deadly gamma-ray burst. If the calculations are correct, this explosion could seriously damage the Earth's ozone layer, causing a mass extinction of species.

In 600 million years, the Moon will move away from the Sun at a sufficient distance to cancel once and for all such a phenomenon as a complete solar eclipse. In addition, the growing luminosity of the Sun will have serious consequences for our planet. The movement of tectonic plates will stop, and the level of carbon dioxide will drop dramatically. C3 photosynthesis will no longer occur, and 99% of the earth's flora will die.

After 800 million years, CO2 levels will continue to fall until C4 photosynthesis stops. Free oxygen and ozone will disappear from the atmosphere, as a result of which all life on Earth will perish.

And finally, in 1 billion years, the luminosity of the Sun will increase by 10% compared to its current state. The temperature of the Earth's surface will rise to an average of 47 degrees Celsius. The atmosphere will turn into a humid greenhouse, and the world's oceans will simply evaporate. "Pockets" of liquid water will still exist at the poles of the Earth, which means that they will probably become the last stronghold of life on our planet.

During this time, much will change, but much has changed over the past billion years. In addition to what we talked about in this video, who knows what can happen in such a long time?

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.