East Anglia, United Kingdom
Talk of global warming and climate change often raises concerns as to how much longer the earth will remain habitable for humans. Recent discoveries by astrobiologists at the University of East Anglia can help ease some of these concerns–at least for the next billion years. The research team, led by Andrew Rushby, discovered that the earth is expected to be habitable for at least another 1.75 billion years. “After this point,” Rushby said, “Earth will be in the ‘hot zone’ of the sun, with temperatures so high, the seas will evaporate. We would see a catastrophic and terminal extinction event for all life. “Although the earth may be in the habitable zone for at least another 1.75 billion years, humans may not survive that long. “Humans would be in trouble with even a small increase in temperature, and near the end only microbes in niche environments would be able to endure the heat,” Rushby said.