The end is not nigh: Earth ‘has 3bn years left’

Life on Earth will continue for up to 3bn years but humans will die out far sooner, scientists say.

Researchers say Earth’s increasing proximity to the sun will eventually result in soaring temperatures, the seas drying up, and the extinction of all life.

However, according to a study by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, man-made climate change will make human life impossible long before this happens and our best chance of survival would be to relocate to another planet — with Mars being the most suitable option.

Andrew Rushby, from the university’s school of environmental sciences, said: “We estimate that Earth will cease to be habitable somewhere between 1.75bn and 3.25bn years from now.

“After this point, Earth will be in the ‘hot zone’ of the sun, with temperatures so high that the seas would evaporate. We would see a catastrophic and terminal extinction event for all life.

“Of course, conditions for humans and other complex life will become impossible much sooner and this is being accelerated by anthropogenic climate change.

“Humans would be in trouble with even a small increase in temperature, and near the end only microbes in niche environments could endure the heat.”

Astronomers have identified almost 1,000 planets outside our solar system. The team of astrobiologists found the recently discovered Gliese 581d could be habitable for up to 54.7bn years.

Mr Rushby said: “To date, no true Earth analogue planet has been detected but it is possible there will be a habitable, Earth-like planet within 10 light years, which is very close in astronomical terms. However reaching it would take hundreds of thousands of years with our current technology.

“If we ever needed to move to another planet, Mars is probably our best bet.”