Researchers have named the three most serious threats to human civilization. According to the findings, people are most threatened by solar activity, an asteroid collision and a supervolcano eruption.
The findings of a team of researchers from the United States can be found in the journal Science. Experts named solar activity, a possible collision with an asteroid, and the activation of a supervolcano as the main threats to humanity.
In the first scenario, it is assumed that people can be affected by a powerful stream of high-energy particles, which will be generated by a coronal mass ejection. The latter is an ejection of matter from the solar corona - the outer layers of the atmosphere of our star. A similar cataclysm occurred in 1989 and had very unpleasant consequences: then the Canadian province of Quebec was left without electricity and plunged into darkness.
But these are small things compared to what solar activity may lead to in the future. Thus, widespread disconnections of transformers and immersion in the darkness of entire continents are possible. In this case, it will be possible to expect disconnection of the Internet, fuel pipelines, water pumps, ATMs, as well as a number of other complexes and systems. According to scientists, the probability of a powerful coronal mass ejection in the next ten years is twelve percent.
Another threat is asteroids. According to the calculations of the researchers, if a space body whose diameter is one kilometer collides with the Earth, dust clouds will rise, which will leave the earth's surface without sunlight for a fairly long period, which can stretch for several months.
Finally, the third possible threat could be the eruption of a supervolcano. Scientists remind that one of these cataclysms took place in Indonesia 74 thousand years ago: then the ancestors of modern man were put on the brink of survival. Take this event now, the continents will be covered with a millimeter layer of ash. This will lead to the death of crops, destruction of buildings, and clogging of water pipes.