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What will the earth look like in 500 years? – Lotte, BrooLe, Massachusetts
Scientists can make some pretty precise predictions about the future. Predict what the earth will look like in 500 years is a difficult task because many factors are involved. Imagine Christopher Columbus in 1492 to predict America today!
We know that two main types of processes change our planet: one contains natural cycles, such as the way the planet revolves around the sun and moves around the sun, and the other is caused by life forms, especially humans.
The earth itself is in motion
The earth is constantly changing.
It wobbles, the angle of its inclination changes and even its orbit changes to bring the earth closer or further from the sun. These changes occur over tens of thousands of years and they were responsible for Eisalter.
Five hundred years are not very long in terms of geology.
People change the planet
The second major influence on the planet are living things. The effects of life on the planet are more difficult to predict. Part of an ecosystem can throw many other things from kilter.
People in particular change earth in many ways.
They reduce forests and break up important habitats for wild animals to build cities and build plants. They move invasive species around the planet and interfere with ecosystems.
They also contribute to global warming. People change the climate, mainly by burning fossil fuels that relieve more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the planet and the atmosphere can handle.
Usually greenhouse gases catch the heat from the sun like the glass of a greenhouse and keep the earth warmer than was otherwise. That can be useful – until we get too much.
The result of too much carbon dioxide is that the temperatures rise, and this can lead to dangerously hot summer days and to melt ice in Greenland and Antarctic. Melt ice sheets increase the oceans, which flooded the coastal areas.
That is the earth straight. These changes could lead to a completely different planet in 500 years, depending on how willing people are to change their ways. A warming planet can also contribute to extreme weather such as heat waves, storms and droughts that the country can change. All living forms of the earth are at risk.
Learning from the past 500 years
In retrospect, the living part of the earth, called the biosphere, has changed dramatically.
The number of people has increased from around 500 million people to over 7.5 billion. More than 800 plant and animal species have died out due to human activities during this time. When the human population grows, other types have less space to roam through. The increase in sea level means even fewer land, and increasing temperatures will migrate many species in better climate zones.
Not all changes on earth are caused by humans, but people have worsened some of them. A big challenge today is to make people do things that cause problems, such as burning fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. This is a global problem in which the countries worldwide and the people in them work towards the same goal.
When he returned to Christopher Columbus, he could probably not have imagined a motorway full of cars or a mobile phone. The technology will undoubtedly improve over the next 500 years. So far, Tech solutions have not enlarged quickly enough to solve climate change. It would be a risky, expensive gambling to continue to do the same things and to expect someone else to fix chaos later.
The earth in 500 years cannot be recognized. Or when people are willing to change their behavior, it can exist for many centuries with its lively forests, oceans, fields and cities together with the most successful residents, humanity, with its living forests.
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This article will be released from the conversation, a non -profit, independent news organization that brings you facts and trustworthy analyzes to help you understand our complex world. It was written by: Michael A. Little, Binghamton University, State University of New York and William D. MacDonald, Binghamton University, State University of New York
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The authors do not work for a company or an organization that benefits from this article and have not published any relevant affiliations about their academic appointment.
