• Question: when do you think the arth will actually end?

    Asked by paisamykatie to Emma, Jen, Joseph, Michael, Mona on 22 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by logan, morganhill.
    • Photo: Jen Gupta

      Jen Gupta answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      I assume by “arth” you mean Earth. I’ve put my answer from an astronomy point of view already in answer to a similar question here /cobaltj11-zone/2011/06/how-will-the-world-end-and-why

      At the rate we’re going, I’m not convinced that life will still be around in a few billion years when our galaxy merges with Andromeda and when the Sun swells up at the end of its life. However I reckon that the planet Earth will still be here, just maybe burnt out and completely dead! Hmm, that’s not a very nice thought 🙁 What do you guys think about it?

    • Photo: Emma Bennett

      Emma Bennett answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      I don’t think anyone knows the real answer to this.

    • Photo: Michael Taggart

      Michael Taggart answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      My simplistic thinking on this is that all ‘life forms’ exist by running on the most energetically economical basis they encounter. So, earth will end when a critical combination of ‘life forms’ run out of energy resources such that the overall dynamic equilibrium is no longer viable. ‘life forms’ in this sense may mean sub-cellular – in other words, as Jen says, it may happen well after we’ve hung up our boots for the last time.

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