Is the world going to end one day?

posted May 3, 2010 4:14 PM by Dmitri Skjorshammer   [ updated May 11, 2010 6:59 AM by Neal Pisenti ]
Interesting question! The answer is yes. There is one definite ending for Earth: stellar evolution of the Sun. 

Let's start by explaining what makes the sun The Sun. Let me remind you that the Sun's "fuel" is hydrogen. The sun's own gravity is pulling all of the hydrogen gas together, but at the same time, fusion of hydrogen "fuel" is pushing everything outwards. These forces are carefully balanced between collapse from its own gravitational weight and explosion from the energy produced in fusion. The result is a net force of 0. That is: the Sun isn't growing and it's not squeezing itself together, it remains in equilibrium


Like every other type of "fuel", there is only a limited supply of it. So some day, Sun's hydrogen supply will run out. So what's going to happen? Well once the hydrogen in the *core* of the Sun runs out, the gravity within the core will exert a BIGGER force so the Sun will contract. This will heat up the surface of the core and initiate further fusion reactions. As a result, the energy output will be so great that it will increase the brightness of the Sun by 1000 times! This spells trouble. While we're not that close to the Sun, an increase in the brightness will be strong enough to kill all life! Imagine the temperature associated with this brightness (for example: have you ever held your hand near a lightbulb?). Don't worry, though, this won't happen for at least another 5 billion years (that's 5,000,000,000 years from now!!!).

Some scientists suggest that there are other threats to humanity. If you've heard the words global warming and climate change, you probably know what we mean. These theories state humans are having an observable effect on our environment. The amount of carbon dioxide we're releasing into the air is changing the makeup of the atmosphere: the more carbon dioxide there is, the more sunlight is trapped inside our atmosphere (see Figure 2):

File:The green house effect.svg

As a result, the average temperature around the Planet increases. While humans may not notice these small changes, it can have a severe effect on sea level and animal habitats.  So we have to worry more about our own actions than the evolution of the sun!