Formation of Pangea Ultima: A Triple Climate Threat
The research was printed within the journal Nature Geoscience. The Earth’s tectonic plates are continually transferring, and scientists predict they’ll in the end converge to kind Pangea Ultima. This supercontinent’s distinctive configuration would exacerbate the local weather disaster by making a “continentality impact,” the place a lot of the land could be removed from cooling oceanic influences. Combined with elevated photo voltaic brightness and better carbon dioxide ranges on account of tectonic volcanic exercise, the landmass may expertise widespread temperatures between 40 and 50°C (104-122°F), with even larger extremes in some areas. Dr Farnsworth highlighted that beneath these situations, people and different mammals might battle to control physique warmth, in the end threatening their survival.
Heat Tolerance Limits of Mammals
Historically, mammals have advanced to outlive varied environmental challenges, however their capacity to deal with excessive warmth has limitations. Prolonged publicity to temperatures above human tolerance may show deadly. Researchers estimate that solely 8-16% of Pangea Ultima would stay liveable for mammals, creating extreme difficulties in securing meals and water.
Current Climate Crisis as a Reminder
Though this situation is hundreds of thousands of years away, co-author Dr Eunice Lo, Research Fellow in Climate Change and Health on the University of Bristol, stresses that speedy local weather motion is important. She notes that present greenhouse fuel emissions are already resulting in extreme warmth waves, highlighting the necessity to obtain net-zero emissions.
Implications Beyond Earth’s Future
These findings can also help scientists in assessing the habitability of exoplanets. According to Dr Farnsworth, the configuration of continents can closely affect local weather, suggesting that even planets inside a photo voltaic system’s liveable zone won’t be appropriate for human life.
