Scientists argue over planet's survival

Scientists are in dispute over how long the planet will survive.

Up until now it was thought that the earth would be engulfed by the sun in a billion years time, but now other scientists in Britain say the earth could be around much longer than originally thought, some 5.7 billion years.

Scientists generally agreed that an expanding sun would engulf the earth in a billion years time as well as other planets such as Mercury and Venus.

However, scientists at the University of Sussex now say the earth will not be swallowed up but will move into a new orbit as the expanding sun loses some of its gravitational pull.

If the prediction is right the planet’s surface will become too hot to sustain life.