Ah, the planet Earth, our beautiful home.
We’d like to believe it will be around
forever, but what if it isn't?
Aliens, comets, weapons of
mass destruction, black holes,
even the Sun could destroy the Earth.
In July of 2019, we had a narrow miss
with asteroid 2019 OK.
It’s impact would have been similar
to a nuclear bomb.
And the scariest thing?
Scientists didn’t see it coming until
it was too late.
NASA would need a whole year’s notice
to stop a doomsday collision.
How would they do that?
They'd launch an object into space
to collide with the asteroid,
destroying it before it got close to Earth.
Barring any more immediate dangers,
Earth wasn’t always the diverse paradise
we know it as.
In fact, about 4 billion years ago,
it looked more like something from
a sci-fi movie.
Supervolcanoes, meteors, and a toxic
atmosphere made our planet inhospitable.
So how did it become today’s Earth?
It went through many geological,
atmospheric and evolutionary steps.
In fact, Homo sapiens only came into the story
Human life evolved during a time when
the climate was mild and stable,
enabling a vast diversity of life -
something we take for granted.
Today, we are already beginning to see
the effects of rapid changes to our
climate and the destruction it causes.
How will it affect your children?
That may not seem like a lot, but it is
enough to create droughts,
extreme wildfires,
stronger hurricanes,
and food shortages.
Two hundred years into the future,
Hopefully, we spend all that time
between now and then creating new
technology to offset the environmental
destruction and keep up with the
demand for food.
In 300 years,
which means we use all the available
resources on our planet.
If only we could get to Type II and use the
power of the Sun, or even Type III,
which uses galactic power.
These are things that could affect your
direct descendants. But let’s jump even
further into the future, when humans
may or may not even be around.
In 100,000 years from now, the biggest star
in the Milky Way, Canis Majoris, will explode.
The supernova will be visible from Earth
in pure daylight.
As this is going on, 20 supervolcanoes
will spew out 417 km³ (100 mi³)
of magma in all directions.
At this point, Earth will be starting to
resemble the planet we saw 4 billion years ago.
In 600 million years, the Sun will begin to
burn up the Earth, as the Sun gets
hotter from its shrinking core.
The only life left on Earth 800 million years
into the future will, once again, be
And 2.8 billion years into the future,
There will be no life left on Earth.
Can we stop this slow demise into a piece
of lifeless rock?
Probably not.
In fact, our current actions might
even be speeding up the process.
Instead, we could work towards prolonging
this calm period in Earth’s history
by protecting its life-sustaining ecosystems
and using renewable resources.
The end of the Earth has captured
many people's imaginations.
There are even doomsday groups with specific
theories on how the end will come.
Some people believe that aliens will
show up and wipe us out, maybe
because of our rich natural resources,
or maybe they just won’t like us.
Other people believe that we will be sucked
into a planet-destroying black hole
caused by the Large Hadron Collider.
Oh, and don’t forget deathly
gamma-ray bursts, which can produce as
much energy in one millisecond as the
Sun does in its entire lifetime.
What about us?
Can we destroy the Earth with weapons
of mass destruction?
Luckily, no.
We might be able to wipe humanity out,
but to physically destroy the Earth
is not possible.
The most powerful explosive device
detonated - so far- is the Soviet-built
Tsar Bomba, also called Big Ivan.
The 50 megaton hydrogen bomb detonated
in 1961 in the Arctic, was over 3,000 times
more powerful than the bomb that
destroyed Hiroshima.
to obliterate the Earth.
In the long term, the Earth will eventually die.
But hopefully we can fend of any immediate
disasters, and use that time to figure out a way
to continue our existance through
technological and biological advances.
How would the human race react to news
that the Earth, like any living organism,
is on its way toward the great beyond?
Would it divide or unify us?
Even though the Earth will die - whether that’s
sooner or later - we can make it a better
place while we’re here.
For now, this is all we’ve got.
So let’s take better care of the environment,
maybe stay away from weapons of mass
destruction, we don't want to risk a
World War III...