Scientists predict that Earth will once again have a “supercontinent” deadly to humans | Energy and science

The world has taken many turns to reach this moment Climate crisisAccording to research by British and Swiss scientists, it could continue to rotate until it reaches a situation similar to the planet’s past: the formation of a supercontinent.

However, this situation, expected for 250 million years in the future, could be crucial for a mass extinction of life on Earth, especially with regard to mammals, the research warns.Extreme weather events will likely lead to the extinction of land mammals during the next supercontinent meeting“, prepared by a team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States, and published on Monday (25) in the Earth Sciences section of the journal Scientific journal Nature.

The reunification of Earth’s continents, becoming one again in the new Pangea, is the result of projecting climate models from the British Meteorological Service onto a supercomputer at the University of Bristol (England).

In the era of Pangea Ultima, as the potential future supercontinent has been named, temperatures are expected to rise by 30 degrees Celsius on dry lands, as well as high humidity in the coastal region and desertification in the interior. According to The Guardian newspaper.

The extreme heat would be similar to that experienced in the Permian-Triassic, 260 million years ago, when more than 90% of species were wiped out. Long periods of heat exceeding 40°C would be beyond the tolerance levels of many life forms, such as plants and mammals. The old sun will emit more radiation.

The situation will always affect the human race, which is accustomed to a mild climate compared to other eras on the planet. An important effect of temperature is the collapse of agriculture and livestock. That is if humanity overcomes more pressing obstacles, such as the climate crisis that haunts the 21st century.

“The Earth has a very variable environment. Humans are very lucky with what we have now, and we should not force our climate to outgrow the cold environment in which we evolved. We are the dominant species, but the Earth and its climate decide how long this will last. What comes next is nobody’s business.” “Dominant species could be completely new,” said Alexander Farnsworth of the University of Bristol.