Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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]
The estimated time until a gamma-ray burst, or massive, hyperenergetic supernova, occurs within 6,500 light-years of Earth; close enough for its rays to affect Earth's ozone layer and potentially trigger a mass extinction, assuming the hypothesis is correct that a previous such explosion triggered the Ordovician–Silurian extinction event ...
The report concluded that global warming of 2 °C (3.6 °F) over the preindustrial levels would threaten an estimated 5% of all the Earth's species with extinction even in the absence of the other four factors, while if the warming reached 4.3 °C (7.7 °F), 16% of the Earth's species would be threatened with extinction.
Climate change has contributed to the expansion of drier climate zones, such as the expansion of deserts in the subtropics. [219] The size and speed of global warming is making abrupt changes in ecosystems more likely. [220] Overall, it is expected that climate change will result in the extinction of many species. [221]
The Earth will naturally become uninhabitable due to the Sun's stellar evolution, within about a billion years. [148] In around 1 billion years from now, the Sun's brightness may increase as a result of a shortage of hydrogen, and the heating of its outer layers may cause the Earth's oceans to evaporate, leaving only minor forms of life. [149]
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
The probability of human extinction within a given timeframe. Extinction threat: A plausible and significant contributor to total extinction risk. Societal fragility: The potential for smaller damages to spiral into global catastrophic or extinction risk due to societal vulnerabilities, risk cascades, and maladaptive responses. Societal collapse
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us