“Large reptiles were the most successful life forms that have ever inhabited this world. 140 million years ago, they reigned on earth, in the air and in the water. At this time, the ancestors of humans were only tiny, shrew-like creatures that were hunted by larger and stronger lizards. Then 65 million years ago, everything changed.
A meteorite six miles in diameter collided with Earth and caused an irreversible shift in the atmosphere. The consequence of this was the destruction of over sixty-five percent of the animal species that then lived on Earth. The age of dinosaurs is over. The evolution of mammals, which they held back for a hundred million years, has begun."
G. Garrison. "West of Eden"
EVAPORATION OF LIFE
In the West, the tale of Goldilocks is very popular among children, known here as "The Three Bears". This is how the curious term “Goldilocks Zone” got into astronomy. These are "indoor conditions" in space, when the planet is neither cold nor hot, there are no too strong gusts of stellar wind and close dangerous neighbors like our giant Jupiter.
But can it happen that our Earth will begin to slowly "slide" from the Goldilocks zone, plunging deeper into the depths of hostile space? As alarming as it sounds, scientists are considering such options.
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How can all traces of life on Earth disappear? And what cosmic or terrestrial cataclysm will finally cut short the history of mankind?
Today the entire "scientific world" is discussing the theory of the British biologist Andrew Rushby. He proves that the day is not far off when our entire planet will turn into a solid Sahara. Meanwhile, archaeologists have long known that on the site of this North African desert, fields and forests once stood, rivers flowed and ancient kingdoms flourished. Some people even believe that the legend of Atlantis should be read “the other way around,” so that the mysterious Atlanteans were swallowed up not by the ocean waters, but by the quicksands of a giant desert. Well, now imagine for a moment that there is not a drop of water around, and only a red-hot wind whistles over the dunes …
This is how the landscape of America, Europe and Asia will look like if at least half of the life-giving moisture evaporates from the earth's surface. Professor Rushby paints terrible pictures of the death of our world from thirst and hunger …
Perhaps this is the kind of tragedy that happened on the once blooming Mars. However, the civilization of the Martians had a way out - to move to the young Earth (maybe it happened!), But what should we do? After all, there are no suitable planets near us located in the "Goldilocks habitable zone."
The only thing that somehow consolates in these gloomy predictions is Andrew Rushby's solid deadlines for humanity. We are talking about billions of years … During this period, solar activity will catastrophically increase, and the earth's climate will somewhat resemble the red-hot "hell" of Venus. Very quickly, the waters of the Earth's World Ocean will warm up so much that they literally boil, and the sky will be covered with a continuous veil of multi-tiered cloud cover. All this will cause a strong greenhouse effect, and water resources on Earth will completely evaporate.
So, about a quarter of what has already been lived is allocated to all living things on our planet. Rushby's ideas were developed and supplemented by biochemist Stephen Benner. This American researcher believes that Mars in the past could have even more favorable conditions for the emergence of life than on Earth.
It turns out that the first seeds of living things could have sprung up on the Red Planet and only then somehow got to the Earth, say, together with meteorites knocked out of Mars during the fall of large asteroids. Well, then the Red Planet left the "Goldilocks zone", and its today's landscapes show us the terrifying future face of its own planet.
GLOBAL TSUNAMI
Meanwhile, not all prophets-eschatologists allow our distant descendants "naturally" to turn into dried up mummies … Many of them confidently predict the collision of the Earth with comets, minor planets and even black holes in the near future. Such grandiose space catastrophes serve as abundant food for the film industry of "disaster films" such as the famous blockbusters "Encounter the Abyss" and "Armageddon".
The plot of these and many similar films is unpretentious, but effective: a giant asteroid is approaching the Earth. Most of humanity will not survive the upcoming catastrophe, as dinosaurs and lizards did not survive a similar collision of the Earth with a heavenly body tens of millions of years ago. Scientists and heroic astronauts try to prevent disaster, but despite their best efforts, part of the meteorite still falls into the Atlantic Ocean, providing an opportunity for computer graphics and special effects engineers to demonstrate their art.
Of course, this is all pure fantasy, but let's think: really, how real is the collision of the Earth with a giant meteorite and what could be the consequences of such a catastrophe?
It has already become a kind of tradition that, several times a year, another eschatological sensation (eschatology is the science of the end of the world) is rolled out in various print and electronic media. So this time, alarming information about a hidden threat coming from the asteroid belt appeared. An asteroid several hundred meters in diameter may dangerously approach our planet in the middle of this century. Together with such famous "space guests" as Apophis, the Beast and 2012 DA14, the new celestial object 2011 AG5 poses a significant threat to densely populated areas of the Earth.
Two-thirds of the earth's surface is occupied by seas and oceans, therefore, the fall of the asteroid into the water area of the World Ocean is most likely. Such a blow will generate a powerful wave - a tsunami. More than half of the world's major cities are located on the coast. Therefore, a wall of water several tens of meters high will destroy the infrastructure and all life on gigantic territories.
Astronomers believe that every two and a half centuries, a thousand-ton celestial aliens fall into the ocean, creating a powerful tsunami. However, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, but the giant waves that occur when asteroids fall into the ocean may not be the main danger … After all, a blow by the "cosmic hammer" on the earth's surface can generate a whole chain of secondary effects.
The lithospheric plates, on which the continents rest, will move, and the 12-point underwater earthquakes will give rise to the second stage of tsunamis, which will not only sweep away from the face of the Earth everything that was left by the first waves, but also change the relief of the planet. But that's not all …
Impact movements of the earth's crust can awaken dormant supervolcanoes to life. One of these underwater giants was recently discovered in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Japanese islands. It is difficult even to imagine what will happen if such a hundred-kilometer-long giants erupt. Most likely, the entire land will be covered with fire-breathing cracks, like broken glass. The victims will be counted in the billions.
The potential meteorite threat of destruction of large cities or devastating tsunamis always exists, because, in fact, the Earth is simply surrounded by a dense swarm of asteroids.
Since the thirties of the last century, when the asteroid Hermes with a diameter of one and a half kilometers flew near our planet, more than two dozen large objects were seen that approached the Earth at an extremely dangerous distance.
But asteroids can give rise not only to terrible cataclysms. After all, perhaps it was they who not only brought the "spores of life" to the surface of our planet, but also gave scope for the evolution of our distant anthropoid ancestors.
THE DEATH OF THE DINOSAURS
65 million years ago, the ark of our planet once again flew into some asteroid reef. The impact from space caused global earthquakes and magma eruptions, so that clouds of dust and ash covered the sky for a long time. The temperature dropped sharply, dramatically changing the flora and fauna. And when the clouds cleared away, the famous dinosaurs, well known to us from Spielberg's film epic Jurassic Park, entered the historical arena.
The wonderful science fiction writer Harry Garrison in the series of novels "West of Eden" clearly showed what would happen to humanity if another giant meteorite had not burst into the earth's atmosphere. Dinosaurs died out and the era of mammals arrived.
Thus, a space block with a diameter of several hundred meters would be quite enough to destroy European civilization. But there are also much larger celestial bodies. It turns out that shots from disaster films are not so much science fiction as a model of the possible development of events.
As a rule, asteroids are negligible - from a few millimeters to several centimeters, but statistics show that every two hundred years, the Earth meets with space bodies several tens of meters in diameter. And such a "flying rock" may well destroy a multimillion city in a few seconds.
What can be done to prevent such meetings?
Of course, this will require the unification of the efforts of the entire international community. First of all, long-range space sensing stations are needed and they are best located on the Moon, Mars and its satellites - Phobos and Deimos. After all, it is from the side of the Main asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars that the absolute majority of uninvited space guests arrive.
But to deliver smashing blows to large asteroids and cometary nuclei is best in lunar orbit. Here you can place an arsenal of mega-ton thermonuclear charges, powerful lasers, and a flotilla of "space tugs" …
Oleg KOTELEVSKY