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Impacts from these comets could trigger a mass extinction of life on Earth. These disruptive encounters are estimated to occur an average of once every 45 million years. [28] There is a 1% chance every billion years that a star will pass within 100 AU of the Sun, potentially disrupting the Solar System. [29]
Earth's surface temperature will reach around 420 K (147 °C; 296 °F), even at the poles. [80] [96] 2.8 billion High estimate until all remaining Earth life goes extinct. [80] [96] 3–4 billion The Earth's core freezes if the inner core continues to grow in size, based on its current growth rate of 1 mm (0.039 in) in diameter per year.
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms .
This is much faster than the expected “background” extinction rate, or the rate at which species would naturally die off without outside influence — in the absence of human beings, these 73 ...
Dresbachian extinction event: 502 Ma: End-Botomian extinction event: 517 Ma: Precambrian: End-Ediacaran extinction: 542 Ma: Anoxic event [45] Great Oxygenation Event: 2400 Ma: Rising oxygen levels in the atmosphere due to the development of photosynthesis as well as possible Snowball Earth event. (see: Huronian glaciation.)
Extinctions are a normal part of the evolutionary process, and the background extinction rate is a measurement of "how often" they naturally occur.Normal extinction rates are often used as a comparison to present day extinction rates, to illustrate the higher frequency of extinction today than in all periods of non-extinction events before it.
The first known mass extinction was the Great Oxidation Event 2.4 billion years ago, which killed most of the planet's obligate anaerobes. Researchers have identified five other major extinction events in Earth's history, with estimated losses below: [11] End Ordovician: 440 million years ago, 86% of all species lost, including graptolites
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