Scientist says doomsday coming in 2.8b years   

研究稱地球氣溫將持續(xù)上升 20億年后只剩微生物

據(jù)香港《明報》4日報道，英國科學家預計，隨著全球溫度持續(xù)升高，到了20億年后，地球上的生物基本上已經消失殆盡，只有適應極端環(huán)境的微生物能夠“笑到最后”。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- A scientist in the UK has predicted that all plant and animal species will be extinct in a billion years, and that the last surviving creatures on Earth will be microbes, according to Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming Pao.

Astrobiologist Jack O'Malley-James from the University of St Andrews in Scotland used a computer model to assess our planet's fate billions of years from now. As the Sun ages and grows hotter, greater evaporation and chemical reactions with rainwater will take away more and more carbon dioxide, he said.

In less than a billion years, its levels will be too low for photosynthesizing plants to survive, and when that happens, life on Earth will cease to exist, he also said.

After another billion years, the oceans will have dried out completely and the temperature will be as high as 100℃, together with intense ultraviolet radiation. Only microbes could live in such a harsh environment.

However, in about 2.8 billion years, even those microbes will fail to live, which means doomsday for Earth, said O'Malley-James.