Unprecedented heat will lead to the next mass extinction since the extinction of the dinosaurs, with nearly all mammals extinct in about 250 million years, a new study suggests. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience and led by the University of Bristol, presents the first supercomputer climate models of the distant future and shows how extreme climate events will intensify as the world’s continents eventually become hot, dry and coalesce into a single continent. almost uninhabitable place… supercontinent

The results show that these higher temperatures will continue to increase as the Sun gets brighter, radiates more energy, and warms the Earth. Tectonic processes occurring in the Earth’s crust and leading to the formation of supercontinents will also lead to more frequent volcanic eruptions, which will lead to large emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, leading to further warming of the planet.

Mammals, including humans, have historically survived due to their ability to adapt to extreme weather conditions, especially through adaptations such as fur and hibernation in the cold, as well as short-term hibernation in warm weather.

Although mammals have learned in the course of evolution to lower their survival threshold at low temperatures, their resistance to high temperatures has generally remained constant. This makes the long-term effects of extreme heat much more difficult to tackle, and if implemented, climate modeling would ultimately become impossible.

Lead author Dr. D., senior research fellow at the University of Bristol. Alexander Farnsworth said: “A reemerging supercontinent would create a triple whammy involving the continentality effect, a hotter sun and more CO2 in the atmosphere, leading to longer-term consequences of warming. The result would be food for mammals and It is a mostly hostile environment with no water resources.

“Widespread temperatures of 40 to 50°C and even higher daily extremes combined with high humidity levels will ultimately determine our fate. Like many other species, humans will die because they cannot release this heat through sweat. to cool their bodies.”

Although climate change and human-caused global warming are an increasing cause of heat stress and death in some regions, research suggests that the planet should remain largely habitable until seismic land shifting occurs in the distant future. But once a supercontinent forms, the results show that only 8% to 16% of the land mass will be suitable for mammal life.

Co-author Dr. D., Research Fellow in Climate Change and Health at the University of Bristol. Eunice Law said: “It is vital that we do not forget the current climate crisis, which is a consequence of human greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists predict that the planet will become uninhabitable in 250 million years, and today we are already experiencing extreme temperatures that are harmful to human health. Therefore, it is extremely important to reach zero emissions as soon as possible.”

An international team of scientists applied climate models to simulate temperature, wind, rain and humidity trends for the next supercontinent called Pangea Ultima, which is expected to form within the next 250 million years. To predict future CO2 levels, the team used models of tectonic plate movement, ocean chemistry, and biology to map the inflow and outflow of CO2.

Future calculations of CO2 emissions were carried out by Professor Benjamin Mills of the University of Leeds, who said: “We think CO2 could rise from 400 parts per million (ppm) today to over 600 parts per million in millions of years in the future. This assumes people stop burning fossil fuels, otherwise Otherwise, we would see these figures much sooner.”

He is also a visiting professor at the Tibetan Plateau Earth, Environment and Resource System (TPESER) at the Tibetan Plateau Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Farnsworth said: “The outlook for the distant future looks very bleak. Carbon Dioxide Levels Since the Sun is expected to emit around 2.5% more radiation and the supercontinent is mostly located in the hot and humid tropics, most of the planet is between 40 and 70°C.” May encounter temperatures between .

“This study also highlights that worlds in the Solar System’s so-called ‘habitable zone’ may not be hospitable to humans, depending on whether the continents are distributed as they are today or within a large supercontinent.”

Additionally, the study reveals the importance of tectonics and continental arrangement in the study of planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets.

Although Earth will still be in the habitable zone 250 million years from now, the formation of a supercontinent with high carbon dioxide content would make much of the Earth uninhabitable for mammals. The findings suggest that the location of a distant world may be an important factor in determining how habitable it is. Source