ANTARIKSA — The science narrative is increasingly worrying. Most recently, scientists have calculated the appearance of a large continent on earth called Pangea Ultima. The super continent will most likely wipe out all the mammals on our planet.
The scientists have published their studies in journals Nature Geoscience on September 25, 2023. They made predictions using a climate model that takes into account changes in land surface temperatures on the supercontinent that forms 250 million years into the future. This change in temperature is in line with an increase in the intensity of solar radiation and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
“Supercontinents appear to create conditions that more easily lead to mass extinctions,” the study’s first author, Alexander Farnsworth, said Live Science.
The climatologist at England’s University of Bristol said the formation of the supercontinent also occurred at the same time as four of the last five mass extinctions in the geological past.
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The Earth’s foundation is not static, and consists of solid rock plates floating in a sea of rotating magma. Over the past 2 billion years, magmatic convection currents have repeatedly pulled these plates apart, forming oceans and continents. Then, reunite them into a supercontinent. This occurs in cycles approximately once every 600 million years.
Scientists estimate that the next supercontinent, Pangea Ultima, will form within 250 million years. At that time, the earth’s land masses, which were most likely on the equator, collided with each other, and ended with the formation of Pangea Ultima.
This new continent will be hot. Not only would most of its equatorial landmass not have the cooling effect of the ocean, but it would absorb more radiation from an older, more active sun. Pangea Ultima will also absorb more carbon dioxide due to volcanic activity.
This is likely to be disastrous for mammals. Orders of animals adapted with sweat glands and circulatory systems that dissipate warmth are quite good at coping with high temperatures. However, the heat of the super continent can exceed 40 degrees Celsius when the weather is dry, and 35 degrees C when the weather is humid.
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To find out how habitable Earth will be in the future, scientists used supercomputer-run climate models that estimate the temperature and humidity across Pangea Ultima.
With most of the Earth’s landmass locked away, the aging sun emits 2.5 percent more radiation. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have also increased by 1.5 times from today. Simulations found that only 8 percent of the supercontinent’s land could be inhabited by mammals.
Scientists estimate that most of this temperature increase occurred after large eruptions that formed areas of carbon-belching lava piles. Driven by the tectonic forces of colliding plates, the emergence of these terrifying regions will leave mammals with little time to adapt to soaring temperatures.
“While there are currently some highly specialized mammals that could inhabit regions like the Sahara, it remains to be seen whether these mammals will be preferentially selected and their descendants will spread to Pangea Ultima and dominate,” Farnsworth said.
2023-09-26 13:31:00
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