- Feb 12, 2007
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The Sun is getting hotter at the rate of 1% per 110 million years.
It is now 30% hotter than it was 4.57 billion years ago.
In another billion years (+/-) the sun will get SO HOT that life on earth will be pretty much vaporized (or as good as such as water will be turned into vapor).
So, instead of worrying about what kind of light bulbs and grocery sacks people use, how about we free the private sector to invent migration and homesteading appropriate technology for new planets?
Apocalypse Not Yet. You notice any new signs of the end of the world today? I have to say I got distracted and missed paying attention at the moment when it was all supposed to end. My neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. But religious belief is not the only source of predictions of the end of the world. A pair of astronomers say in about 1 billion years the output of our Sun will go up enough to evaporate the oceans and rivers into water vapor.
The story begins some 4.57 billion years ago, when the young sun's nuclear furnace ignited and stabilized. Back then, solar physicists estimate, the sun was 30 percent dimmer than it is today. As it has matured, it has brightened at a pace of about 1 percent every 110 million years.
Over that period, the two explain, Earth's climate system has adjusted to the increase in the sun's output, keeping the planet's average temperature within a livable range and with plenty of water on hand. Orbiting 93 million miles from the sun, Earth finds itself nicely placed in the sun's habitable zone.
But over the next billion years, the duo says, the sun's output will rise by another 10 percent.
Let us suppose sentient beings will still inhabit planet Earth hundreds of millions of years from now and beyond. What to do? I see a few choices:
Migrate to Mars.
Do climate engineering
Move Earth to a larger orbit (and thereby lengthen bond maturities too).
Leave the solar system.
FuturePundit: End Of World In 1 Billion Years?
It is now 30% hotter than it was 4.57 billion years ago.
In another billion years (+/-) the sun will get SO HOT that life on earth will be pretty much vaporized (or as good as such as water will be turned into vapor).
So, instead of worrying about what kind of light bulbs and grocery sacks people use, how about we free the private sector to invent migration and homesteading appropriate technology for new planets?
Apocalypse Not Yet. You notice any new signs of the end of the world today? I have to say I got distracted and missed paying attention at the moment when it was all supposed to end. My neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. But religious belief is not the only source of predictions of the end of the world. A pair of astronomers say in about 1 billion years the output of our Sun will go up enough to evaporate the oceans and rivers into water vapor.
The story begins some 4.57 billion years ago, when the young sun's nuclear furnace ignited and stabilized. Back then, solar physicists estimate, the sun was 30 percent dimmer than it is today. As it has matured, it has brightened at a pace of about 1 percent every 110 million years.
Over that period, the two explain, Earth's climate system has adjusted to the increase in the sun's output, keeping the planet's average temperature within a livable range and with plenty of water on hand. Orbiting 93 million miles from the sun, Earth finds itself nicely placed in the sun's habitable zone.
But over the next billion years, the duo says, the sun's output will rise by another 10 percent.
Let us suppose sentient beings will still inhabit planet Earth hundreds of millions of years from now and beyond. What to do? I see a few choices:
Migrate to Mars.
Do climate engineering
Move Earth to a larger orbit (and thereby lengthen bond maturities too).
Leave the solar system.
FuturePundit: End Of World In 1 Billion Years?
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