Humans ‘would expire’ in future world, as predicted by supercomputer

New climate models suggest that Earth's temperatures could rise to a terrifying 70C in the future. This extreme global warming would create a ‘hostile environment devoid of food or water’. As a result, scientists are warning that the Earth’s surface, in 250 million years, will be almost uninhabitable for all mammals - including humans. So unless we’ve figured out a way to live on another planet by then, we will go extinct.

The research predicts that the sun would get brighter as tectonic movements unleashed massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. The land on Earth would merge and become one very hot and dry supercontinent. This potential landmass has been named ‘Pangea Ultima’.

What the predicted future would look like

The Earth would heat up to such an extent that a mere 8-16% of this supercontinent would be habitable. The study’s lead author, Dr Alexander Farnsworth of 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.

He went on to explain that the ‘widespread temperatures of between 40C to 50C’ combined with high humidity, would ‘ultimately seal our fate’.

The importance of fossil fuels

The predictions have been made on the basis that humans will stop burning fossil fuels. If that doesn’t happen, we are likely to witness the consequences of our current consumption ‘much, much sooner’. This terrifying warning comes from Professor Benjamin Mills, who calculated the CO2 projections for the study.

Dr Farnsworth has explained that the prediction, as it stands, paints a ‘very bleak’ - albeit distant - future for humanity.

The study suggests that reducing emissions to net zero is no longer just the best option, but the only course of action that will ensure our future on this planet.

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Sources used:

Sky News: Extreme global warming could eventually wipe out humans, first-ever supercomputer climate models warn

Nature geoscience: Climate extremes likely to drive land mammal extinction during next supercontinent assembly