NASA has calculated the eventual extinction of life on Earth, driven by the Sun’s evolution. While Earth will remain in orbit for billions of years, life on the planet has a much shorter timeline.
As the Sun ages, it will swell into a red giant, but long before that, its increasing brightness will cause Earth’s temperature to rise, eventually leading to uninhabitable conditions.
Rising temperatures will cause more water to evaporate, trapping heat in a feedback loop known as the “moist runaway greenhouse effect.” This process will make the Earth too hot to sustain life.
NASA predicts life on Earth has around 1.5 billion years remaining before the oceans evaporate and ecosystems collapse. As temperatures rise, the planet will turn barren, much like Venus.
In the final stages, the Earth will be a lifeless, scorched world. The expanding Sun might even engulf the planet, turning it into cosmic debris orbiting a dying star.
NASA’s findings remind us of the fragility of life on Earth. The inevitability of our planet’s demise pushes the need to explore other potential habitats for humanity in the universe.