End Of The World Has Already Begun

Roach · 11-12-2009, 01:22 AM

The End Of The World Has Already Begun

In its 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved from its hot, violent birth to the celebrated watery blue planet that stands out in pictures from space. But in a new book, two noted University of Washington astrobiologists say the planet already has begun the long process of devolving into a burned-out cinder, eventually to be swallowed by the sun.
By their reckoning, Earth's "day in the sun" has reached 4:30 a.m., corresponding to its 4.5 billion-year age. By 5 a.m., the 1 billion-year reign of animals and plants will come to an end. At 8 a.m. the oceans will vaporize. At noon – after 12 billion years – the ever-expanding sun, transformed into a red giant, will engulf the planet, melting away any evidence it ever existed and sending molecules and atoms that once were Earth floating off into space.

"The disappearance of our planet is still 7.5 billion years away, but people really should consider the fate of our world and have a realistic understanding of where we are going," said UW astrophysicist Donald Brownlee.

"We live in a fabulous place at a fabulous time. It's a healthy thing for people to realize what a treasure this is in space and time, and fully appreciate and protect their environment as much as possible."

In "The Life and Death of Planet Earth," Brownlee and UW paleontologist Peter Ward use current scientific understanding of planets and stars, as well as the parameters of life, to provide a glimpse of the second half of life on Earth and what comes after.

The book, a sort of biography of our planet, is being published today by Times Books, a division of Henry Holt and Co. It is a sequel to Ward and Brownlee's best-selling and much-discussed book "Rare Earth," in which they put forth the hypothesis that simple life is relatively common in the universe but complex, Earth-like life is exceedingly rare.

"The Life and Death of Planet Earth" explains how the myriad life on Earth today was preceded by a long period of microbial dominance, and the authors contend that complex life eventually will disappear and be succeeded again by a period of only microbial life.

They say that higher life will be removed much as it came into being, ecosystem by ecosystem. Aspects of the planet's past, such as numbingly cold ice ages, will be relived in the period of devolution.

"If we do begin to slide into the next glacial cycle, there probably are grand, planetary-scale engineering projects that might stop or lessen the effects," Ward said.

"The big unknowns are whether we can afford to do such projects and would we really know what to do. If the planet was cooling, we could, in principle, begin painting the surface black to collect more heat. Could we afford it? And what would be the many possible ramifications of a planet suddenly covered in black paint? Any planetary remediation project would always run the risk of making things worse."

Eventually, though, scorching heat will drive land creatures to the sea for respite. Those that can adapt will survive for a time, but eventually the oceans will warm too much for the complex life forms to continue.

"The last life may look much like the first life – a single-celled bacterium, survivor and descendant of all that came before," the authors write. Finally, even the surviving microbes "will be seared out of existence."

The prospects of humans surviving by moving to some other habitable planet or moon aren't good, Brownlee and Ward contend, because even if such a place were found, getting there would be a huge obstacle.

Various probes sent into space could survive Earth's demise, and just a few grams of material could arguably carry a DNA sample from every human, they say, but it's not likely the human species itself will survive. Long before the planet's final end, life will become quite challenging, and finally impossible, for humans.

As the sun gets hotter and grows in size, it will envelop Mercury and Venus. It is possible it will stop just short of Earth, the authors say, but the conditions still would make this a most-inhospitable planet.

More likely, though, the sun will consume Earth as well, severing all the chemical bonds between molecules and sending its individual atoms out into space, perhaps eventually to form new planets. That would leave Mars as the nearest planet to the sun, and on Mars the fading sun's glow would be like that of Earth's moon.

That end is still some 7.5 billion years distant, but by then Earth will have faced a variety of "ends" along the way, the authors say. The last dinosaur perished long ago. Still to come are the last elephant, the last tree, the last flower, the last glacier, the last snowflake, the last ocean, the last life.

"The Life and Death of Planet Earth" is like its predecessor, "Rare Earth," in that the authors collected and distilled some of the latest scientific ideas about the Earth's place in the universe, Brownlee said. He hopes the new book, like "Rare Earth," will spark widespread discussion, and give people a fundamental and realistic view of the past and future of their planet.

"It's a healthy thing to think of the place of Earth among the other planets, and its place in the sun. The sun gave life and ultimately it will bring death."

LHM · 11-12-2009, 03:17 AM

I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's all about the journey.

cantSEEme · 11-12-2009, 05:03 AM

i wouldnt mind reading either of those books.

but in a few billion years, if the human race hasn't killed itself off by then or gone extinct, i like to think that we'd have progressed enough in space technology to be able to find another habitable planet to destroy.

osirus2020 · 11-12-2009, 03:08 PM

I would be surprised to find out humans could make it that long without destroying us or Earth by then.

Hell, humans may die out and some crazy human/beast things will rule the planet. Or even like in The Time Machine where Humans split into subterranean bad-asses and surface dwelling monkey men.

Quote:

people really should consider the fate of our world and have a realistic understanding of where we are going

QFT

cantSEEme · 11-12-2009, 03:13 PM

id be suprised as well. a bunch of monkeys throwing bombs at each other.... progress.

Sir-Ex · 11-12-2009, 03:34 PM

I'm about three years from self manifested quantum flux, so I'll be able to transmit my wavefront anywhere in the universe by slipping through the singularity of my conscious. Earth blowing up doesn't bug me too much. But them t-cells are a different story.

Waves · 11-12-2009, 03:44 PM

ttttttt tooo long;;;;;; dddddidnt reeeeaaad

scottishbastard · 11-12-2009, 04:03 PM

I like what Patton Oswalt says about how he hopes he dies in the apocalypse lol

farmergiles · 11-12-2009, 05:17 PM

bring on the apocalypse.

C_ka · 11-12-2009, 05:37 PM

we need to start finding new planets now if we want our race to survive to the heat death of the universe

José · 11-12-2009, 06:06 PM

we've lived for 1/100,000,000 the time that dinosaurs lived on earth and we are already fucking it up. We will never last any decent amount of time on earth, but I have a feeling once we get to a certain point in technology, there won't be any turning back and we might see an explosion in new technology here soon enough.

"If you were to go to where the wright brothers flew their first plane a week before they did it and told people it was going to happen they would have called you insane and locked you up and threw away the key." seriously, i don't even think any one on earth can comprehend the technology that will be available to us here in the next 20-50 years.

José · 11-12-2009, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C_ka

we need to start finding new planets now if we want our race to survive to the heat death of the universe

stephen hawking has made the prediction that if it doesnt happen in 200-300 years the human race will have used up all the resources needed to get to another habitable planet.

the problem is that earth is like a gas station in the middle of the desert. we will need to either 1) find ways of teleportation or 2)have generations of families on a giant space ship.

even if we were able to travel at the speed of light, it would take many many many years on a ship before we find another solar system similar to ours or what ever.

**~~stateofkane~~** · 11-12-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpankyMcLankey

stephen hawking has made the prediction that if it doesnt happen in 200-300 years the human race will have used up all the resources needed to get to another habitable planet.

the problem is that earth is like a gas station in the middle of the desert. we will need to either 1) find ways of teleportation or 2)have generations of families on a giant space ship.

even if we were able to travel at the speed of light, it would take many many many years on a ship before we find another solar system similar to ours or what ever.

Teleportation is supernatural; you've been watching too much star trek. Humans reaching other planets will never happen. It would take about 30 years to get to Mars with the technology we have.

I'm hoping humanity ends in less than 200 years but the Earth is still standing for insects. They have more dominance on Earth than any other species, so will be the last to go unless we all go at once.

LHM · 11-12-2009, 07:01 PM

I don't think we know enough about ourselves and the limitless possibilities in our universe to make any concrete claims about the future. There could be a massive curveball in the works rendering all these predictions worthless. Now is all you have. Make the most of it.

Waves · 11-12-2009, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C_ka

we need to start finding new planets now if we want our race to survive to the heat death of the universe

doesnt "heat death of the universe" mean EVERY planet is gonna be destroyed? what exists outside of the universe?

fuck my existentialism!

C_ka · 11-12-2009, 07:30 PM

yes we will have to take on some kind of metaphysical form

José · 11-12-2009, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stateofkane

Teleportation is supernatural; you've been watching too much star trek. Humans reaching other planets will never happen. It would take about 30 years to get to Mars with the technology we have.

hahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48rz8udZBmQ

do you not know that they've put humans in closed capsules for the same amount of time it would take to get to mars? it's like 180 days... 30 years? you're a strange person... mars doesn't have the environment to support humans though... soo, i don't even know what you're trying to say.

also, teleportaion is NOT supernatural, it's called quantum physics.

Teleportation Milestone Achieved | LiveScience

seriously, you're an idiot, shut the fuck up thank you very much.

state of kane, your ignorance has no boundries.

Sir-Ex · 11-12-2009, 10:04 PM

While stateofkane's ignorance is incredible, I would like to point out that your figure of the proportion of human vs dinosaur longevity is totally off. I did the math and it's more like 1/640th the time dinosaurs were around. Unless you're talking about when humans really started fucking shit up, which would be the industrial revolution. In which case your figure is pretty spot on.

But.. were you referring to the industrial shift? If you were I sincerely apologise for wasting time.

José · 11-12-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir-Ex

While stateofkane's ignorance is incredible, I would like to point out that your figure of the proportion of human vs dinosaur longevity is totally off. I did the math and it's more like 1/640th the time dinosaurs were around. Unless you're talking about when humans really started fucking shit up, which would be the industrial revolution. In which case your figure is pretty spot on.

But.. were you referring to the industrial shift? If you were I sincerely apologise for wasting time.

Yeah pretty much since 20th century. i mean we doubled our population on earth in only 40 years... it would be even easier to do at this point in time, but the earth can't handle that many people..

if i had to guess stateofkane still smokes weed even though he told everyone else they shouldn't because he doesn't. either he still does or doesn't at all, i can't even fucking tell.

Sir-Ex · 11-12-2009, 11:20 PM

Yeah it's crazy what's going on. We're in for something cataclysmic.

11-12-2009, 01:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
Roach Victoria Aut Mors Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7,166 Thanks: 2,368 Thanked 1,984 Times in 1,507 Posts	End Of The World Has Already Begun The End Of The World Has Already Begun In its 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved from its hot, violent birth to the celebrated watery blue planet that stands out in pictures from space. But in a new book, two noted University of Washington astrobiologists say the planet already has begun the long process of devolving into a burned-out cinder, eventually to be swallowed by the sun. By their reckoning, Earth's "day in the sun" has reached 4:30 a.m., corresponding to its 4.5 billion-year age. By 5 a.m., the 1 billion-year reign of animals and plants will come to an end. At 8 a.m. the oceans will vaporize. At noon – after 12 billion years – the ever-expanding sun, transformed into a red giant, will engulf the planet, melting away any evidence it ever existed and sending molecules and atoms that once were Earth floating off into space. "The disappearance of our planet is still 7.5 billion years away, but people really should consider the fate of our world and have a realistic understanding of where we are going," said UW astrophysicist Donald Brownlee. "We live in a fabulous place at a fabulous time. It's a healthy thing for people to realize what a treasure this is in space and time, and fully appreciate and protect their environment as much as possible." In "The Life and Death of Planet Earth," Brownlee and UW paleontologist Peter Ward use current scientific understanding of planets and stars, as well as the parameters of life, to provide a glimpse of the second half of life on Earth and what comes after. The book, a sort of biography of our planet, is being published today by Times Books, a division of Henry Holt and Co. It is a sequel to Ward and Brownlee's best-selling and much-discussed book "Rare Earth," in which they put forth the hypothesis that simple life is relatively common in the universe but complex, Earth-like life is exceedingly rare. "The Life and Death of Planet Earth" explains how the myriad life on Earth today was preceded by a long period of microbial dominance, and the authors contend that complex life eventually will disappear and be succeeded again by a period of only microbial life. They say that higher life will be removed much as it came into being, ecosystem by ecosystem. Aspects of the planet's past, such as numbingly cold ice ages, will be relived in the period of devolution. "If we do begin to slide into the next glacial cycle, there probably are grand, planetary-scale engineering projects that might stop or lessen the effects," Ward said. "The big unknowns are whether we can afford to do such projects and would we really know what to do. If the planet was cooling, we could, in principle, begin painting the surface black to collect more heat. Could we afford it? And what would be the many possible ramifications of a planet suddenly covered in black paint? Any planetary remediation project would always run the risk of making things worse." Eventually, though, scorching heat will drive land creatures to the sea for respite. Those that can adapt will survive for a time, but eventually the oceans will warm too much for the complex life forms to continue. "The last life may look much like the first life – a single-celled bacterium, survivor and descendant of all that came before," the authors write. Finally, even the surviving microbes "will be seared out of existence." The prospects of humans surviving by moving to some other habitable planet or moon aren't good, Brownlee and Ward contend, because even if such a place were found, getting there would be a huge obstacle. Various probes sent into space could survive Earth's demise, and just a few grams of material could arguably carry a DNA sample from every human, they say, but it's not likely the human species itself will survive. Long before the planet's final end, life will become quite challenging, and finally impossible, for humans. As the sun gets hotter and grows in size, it will envelop Mercury and Venus. It is possible it will stop just short of Earth, the authors say, but the conditions still would make this a most-inhospitable planet. More likely, though, the sun will consume Earth as well, severing all the chemical bonds between molecules and sending its individual atoms out into space, perhaps eventually to form new planets. That would leave Mars as the nearest planet to the sun, and on Mars the fading sun's glow would be like that of Earth's moon. That end is still some 7.5 billion years distant, but by then Earth will have faced a variety of "ends" along the way, the authors say. The last dinosaur perished long ago. Still to come are the last elephant, the last tree, the last flower, the last glacier, the last snowflake, the last ocean, the last life. "The Life and Death of Planet Earth" is like its predecessor, "Rare Earth," in that the authors collected and distilled some of the latest scientific ideas about the Earth's place in the universe, Brownlee said. He hopes the new book, like "Rare Earth," will spark widespread discussion, and give people a fundamental and realistic view of the past and future of their planet. "It's a healthy thing to think of the place of Earth among the other planets, and its place in the sun. The sun gave life and ultimately it will bring death."

11-12-2009, 03:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
LHM BRINGBACKFANCYSYMBOL Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 599 Thanks: 70 Thanked 85 Times in 28 Posts	I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's all about the journey. __________________ Next time you say "I have nothing in common with this person," remember that you have a great deal in common: A few years from now - two years or seventy years, it doesn't make much difference - both of you will have become rotting corpses, then piles of dust, then nothing at all.

11-12-2009, 05:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
cantSEEme Cold School Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,019 Thanks: 152 Thanked 127 Times in 457 Posts	i wouldnt mind reading either of those books. but in a few billion years, if the human race hasn't killed itself off by then or gone extinct, i like to think that we'd have progressed enough in space technology to be able to find another habitable planet to destroy. __________________

11-12-2009, 03:13 PM	#5 (permalink)
cantSEEme Cold School Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,019 Thanks: 152 Thanked 127 Times in 457 Posts	id be suprised as well. a bunch of monkeys throwing bombs at each other.... progress. __________________

11-12-2009, 03:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sir-Ex Learner Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 11,413 Thanks: 1,725 Thanked 3,816 Times in 2,256 Posts	I'm about three years from self manifested quantum flux, so I'll be able to transmit my wavefront anywhere in the universe by slipping through the singularity of my conscious. Earth blowing up doesn't bug me too much. But them t-cells are a different story. __________________ Smile Ditch the cigs!!!!!!

11-12-2009, 03:44 PM	#7 (permalink)
Waves Duderino Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: chiburbs Posts: 15,405 Thanks: 991 Thanked 4,036 Times in 2,224 Posts	ttttttt tooo long;;;;;; dddddidnt reeeeaaad __________________ On this life that we call home The years go fast and the days go so slow

11-12-2009, 04:03 PM	#8 (permalink)
scottishbastard ARGH! FUCK! KILL! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Castaic/Los Angeles California BITCHES! Posts: 1,954 Thanks: 32 Thanked 69 Times in 60 Posts	I like what Patton Oswalt says about how he hopes he dies in the apocalypse lol __________________ Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do No matter what I ask of you You think you hold the high hand I've got my doubts I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts ..... And even if I have to go to Claremont Well I guess I'll just have to go to Claremont Let me go Let me lie low Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do No matter what I ask of you And you send your dark messengers to tempt me I come from Chino so all your threats are empty - the mountain goats

11-12-2009, 05:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
farmergiles Yahookan Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sick of the hatred and the lies Posts: 7,793 Thanks: 2,280 Thanked 3,745 Times in 2,550 Posts	bring on the apocalypse. __________________ Cultivate a stoic calmness *Fuck the Monkeys* Every Kind of Vice

11-12-2009, 05:37 PM	#10 (permalink)
C_ka Safe mode Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: New Zealand Posts: 934 Thanks: 147 Thanked 32 Times in 26 Posts	we need to start finding new planets now if we want our race to survive to the heat death of the universe __________________ "yes i smoke shit straight off the roach clip.." - Cypress Hill "Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." — Eugene V. Debs [KEEP NZ GREEN]

11-12-2009, 06:06 PM	#11 (permalink)
José YaHookan Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,363 Thanks: 62 Thanked 147 Times in 72 Posts	we've lived for 1/100,000,000 the time that dinosaurs lived on earth and we are already fucking it up. We will never last any decent amount of time on earth, but I have a feeling once we get to a certain point in technology, there won't be any turning back and we might see an explosion in new technology here soon enough. "If you were to go to where the wright brothers flew their first plane a week before they did it and told people it was going to happen they would have called you insane and locked you up and threw away the key." seriously, i don't even think any one on earth can comprehend the technology that will be available to us here in the next 20-50 years. Last edited by José; 11-12-2009 at 06:10 PM.

11-12-2009, 07:01 PM	#14 (permalink)
LHM BRINGBACKFANCYSYMBOL Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 599 Thanks: 70 Thanked 85 Times in 28 Posts	I don't think we know enough about ourselves and the limitless possibilities in our universe to make any concrete claims about the future. There could be a massive curveball in the works rendering all these predictions worthless. Now is all you have. Make the most of it. __________________ Next time you say "I have nothing in common with this person," remember that you have a great deal in common: A few years from now - two years or seventy years, it doesn't make much difference - both of you will have become rotting corpses, then piles of dust, then nothing at all.

11-12-2009, 07:30 PM	#16 (permalink)
C_ka Safe mode Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: New Zealand Posts: 934 Thanks: 147 Thanked 32 Times in 26 Posts	yes we will have to take on some kind of metaphysical form __________________ "yes i smoke shit straight off the roach clip.." - Cypress Hill "Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." — Eugene V. Debs [KEEP NZ GREEN]

11-12-2009, 10:04 PM	#18 (permalink)
Sir-Ex Learner Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 11,413 Thanks: 1,725 Thanked 3,816 Times in 2,256 Posts	While stateofkane's ignorance is incredible, I would like to point out that your figure of the proportion of human vs dinosaur longevity is totally off. I did the math and it's more like 1/640th the time dinosaurs were around. Unless you're talking about when humans really started fucking shit up, which would be the industrial revolution. In which case your figure is pretty spot on. But.. were you referring to the industrial shift? If you were I sincerely apologise for wasting time. __________________ Smile Ditch the cigs!!!!!!

11-12-2009, 11:20 PM	#20 (permalink)
Sir-Ex Learner Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 11,413 Thanks: 1,725 Thanked 3,816 Times in 2,256 Posts	Yeah it's crazy what's going on. We're in for something cataclysmic. __________________ Smile Ditch the cigs!!!!!!

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