8 Terrifying Ways The World Could Actually End

The result of a presidential election might inspire unbridled hope — or make you finger like the world is end .

Yet both feelings neglect thehumbling truthabout our delicate existence . life-time exists on Earth only because it teeters in a delicate and truly unlikely balance . Our air , proximity to the sun , and countless other beautiful coincidences not only allow last things to come through and evolve but also thrive .

And yet , here we are , sit at desk and in coffee shop class and walking down the street like it is n’t some kind of extraordinary miracle .

earth dying end of the world on fire apocalypse doomed death destruction shutterstock_380254078

Yup.Shutterstock

But all good things must come toan terminal .

Yup . Shutterstock

One sidereal day Earth will be inhospitable to anything resembling life as we recognise it .

1) The Earth’s molten core might cool.

The life on this planet in all probability wo n’t cease until billion of years from now . But , depending on the vicissitudes of astrophysics , it could also happen tomorrow or anytime in between .

Here are the many manner scientists consider the Earth could die .

1 ) The Earth ’s molten core might cool off .

Earth is surrounded by a protective magnetic shield, called the magnetosphere.

Source : National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA )

The resulting flood of eminent - get-up-and-go particle that bang into Earth ’s air can trigger beautiful auroras , or sometimes turbulent geomagnetic storm .

Source : Business Insider

The field is generated by Earth’s rotation, which swirls a thick shell of liquid iron and nickel (the outer core) around a solid ball of metal (the inner core), creating a giant electric dynamo.

But if the core cools , we ’d lose our magnetosphere — and also our protection from solar winds , which would slowly shoot our ambiance into space .

reference : Live Science , Tech Insider

Mars — once racy with water and a thick atmosphere — suffered this same fate billions of old age ago , leading to the nigh airless , apparently exanimate world we know today .

The magnetosphere deflects energetic particles that emanate from the sun, changing its size and shape as it’s hit.

generator : Tech Insider

2 ) The Sunday could startle to die and flesh out .

the right way now , the Dominicus is midway through life sentence , steadily exchange hydrogen into helium through fusion .

The resulting flood of high-energy particles that slam into Earth’s air can trigger beautiful auroras, or sometimes disruptive geomagnetic storms.

Source : The Conversation

It ’s a more energetic response and will drive the sun ’s layers outward , and possibly start pulling the Earth toward the sunlight .

Sources : Cornell , Scientific American

But if the core cools, we’d lose our magnetosphere — and also our protection from solar winds, which would slowly blast our atmosphere into space.

We ’d be incinerate and then vaporize .

Sources : Business Insider , Scientific American

That or the sun ’s expansion would push the Earth out of orbit . It ’d die frozen as a rogue planet , untethered to any wizard and drifting through the vacancy .

Mars — once rich with water and a thick atmosphere — suffered this same fate billions of years ago, leading to the nearly airless, seemingly lifeless world we know today.

Source : Business Insider , The Conversation

3 ) Earth could get stuff into a deadly orbit .

Source : National Geographic

fit in to recent feigning , in fact , varlet planets may outnumber stars in the Milky Way by 100,000 to one .

One of those rogue major planet could drift into the solar organization and destabilise Earth into an extreme and inhospitable orbit .

generator : Space.com

The sun, and our position relative to it, is perhaps the most important piece of our tenuous existence.

As its own rogue planet , Earth would become an ice ball . Meanwhile , a significant gravitative shove could also make utmost and deadly seasons that jump between blisteringly cold and searingly raging .

4 ) A rogue planet could hit Earth .

Source : NASA

supernova exploding star nasa

A new hit would similarly send debris fly all over the solar system and melt Earth 100 % through . And while the new planet would eventually regenerate and cool down , it ’s anyone ’s guess if it ’d be habitable .

Source : Purdue / Impact Earth !

5 ) Asteroids could bombard the satellite .

Right now, the sun is midway through life, steadily converting hydrogen into helium through fusion.

Source : New Scientist

The impact were so vivid that the oceans boiled for a full year .

reservoir : cable

That won’t last forever, though. Billions of years from now the sun will run low on hydrogen and start fusing helium.

All living was single - celled at that point , and only the most heat - tolerant microbes made it .

Today ’s larger lifeforms almost for sure would n’t make it . melody temperatures could strive more than 900 degree Fahrenheit for several weeks if we suffered a similar pummeling .

Source : Science News

It’s a more energetic reaction and will push the sun’s layers outward, and possibly start pulling the Earth toward the sun.

6 ) The Earth could pass too close to a wandering black hole .

author : NPR

We do n’t get it on much about them , but we do make love they ’re so dense that not even light can get out beyond a black hole ’s event horizon .

We’d be incinerated and then vaporized.

A little black hole might harmlessly pass on through the Earth , though anything large than hatful of the lunation would do big job .

If light source ca n’t get away , the Earth definitely wo n’t . There are two ideas about what could happen after the point of no return , given a grown - enough rogue dim gob .

seed : KIPAC / Stanford

Beyond the event horizon , atom might stretch until they ’re pull out apart entirely .

Other physicists have hypothecate we ’d run properly into the end of the universe , or terminate up in an wholly different one .

Even if a recoil black mess neglect Earth , it might pass tight enough to stimulate seism and other destruction , give up us out of the solar arrangement , or spiral us into the sun .

3) Earth could get shoved into a deadly orbit.

Source : AskAMathematician

7 ) The Earth ’s air could be obliterated in a gamma ray fit .

Source : Universe Today

Speaking of rogue planets, worlds often get kicked out of their solar systems during formation.

Artist’s impression of Fomalhaut b.NASA Blueshift on Flickr

Most are the solution of monumental stars collapsing when they expire . One forgetful clap can breathe more energy than our sun will over the course of its lifetime .

That muscularity has the potential to eradicate the ozone layer , flood the Earth with dangerous ultraviolet ignitor , and trigger rapid global cooling system .

Source : International Journal of Astrobiology

According to recent simulations, in fact, rogue planets may outnumber stars in the Milky Way by 100,000 to one.

In fact , a GRB guide at Earth might have get the first mass extinction 440 million years ago .

Source : Live Science

Luckily , David Thompson , deputy project manager on the Fermi Gamma - ray Space Telescope , told National Geographic that GRBs are n’t really a big fear .

One of those rogue planets could drift into the solar system and destabilize Earth into an extreme and inhospitable orbit.

He separate the magazine the endangerment was tantamount to " the peril I might confront if I found a icy bear in my closet in Bowie , Maryland . "

The creation could go to pieces in its final " Big Rip . "

Read next : A report that fake news ' outdo ' real news program on Facebook suggests the trouble is wildly out of ascendency .

As its own rogue planet, Earth would become an ice ball. Meanwhile, a significant gravitational shove could also make extreme and deadly seasons that alternate between blisteringly cold and searingly hot.

4) A rogue planet could hit Earth.

Or instead of just passing by and disrupting Earth’s orbit, a drifting world could make a direct hit.

Ever watched the movie “Melancholia”?Magnolia Pictures

It wouldn’t be unprecedented. About 4.5 billion years ago, a small planet crashed into a larger planet in the solar system — forming Earth and its moon.

A new collision would similarly send debris flying all over the solar system and melt Earth 100% through. And while the new planet would eventually reform and cool down, it’s anyone’s guess if it’d be habitable.

5) Asteroids could bombard the planet.

Hollywood loves death-by-asteroid.

Rocks from space can be pretty destructive — a big one probably wiped out the dinosaurs — though it would take a lot of asteroids to properly dispatch the entire planet.

Still, it could happen. Earth was heavily bombarded by asteroids for hundreds of millions of years after it formed.

The impacts were so intense that the oceans boiled for a full year.

All life was single-celled at that point, and only the most heat-tolerant microbes made it.

Today’s larger lifeforms almost certainly wouldn’t make it. Air temperatures could reach more than 900 degrees Fahrenheit for several weeks if we suffered a similar pummeling.

Artist’s impression of a black hole.NASA/JPL/Caltech

Black holes might be Hollywood’s second-favorite form of planet death. It’s easy to see why.

They’re as mysterious as they are frightening. Even the name is ominous.

We don’t know much about them, but we do know they’re so dense that not even light can escape beyond a black hole’s event horizon.

And scientists think “recoiled” black holes are out there wandering through space, just like rogue planets. It’s not inconceivable that one could pass through the solar system.

A small black hole might harmlessly pass through the Earth, though anything larger than mass of the moon would cause big problems.

If light can’t escape, the Earth definitely won’t. There are two ideas about what could happen after the point of no return, given a big-enough rogue black hole.

Beyond the event horizon, atoms might stretch until they’re pulled apart entirely.

Other physicists have theorized we’d run right into the end of the universe, or end up in an entirely different one.

Even if a recoiled black hole misses Earth, it might pass closely enough to cause earthquakes and other devastation, kick us out of the solar system, or spiral us into the sun.

7) The Earth’s atmosphere could be obliterated in a gamma ray burst.

Gamma ray bursts, or GRBs, are one of the most powerful phenomena in the universe.

Most are the result of massive stars collapsing when they die. One short blast can emit more energy than our sun will over the course of its lifetime.

An image of the most powerful GRB ever recorded.NASA

That energy has the potential to eradicate the ozone layer, flood the Earth with dangerous ultraviolet light, and trigger rapid global cooling.

In fact, a GRB pointed at Earth might have caused the first mass extinction 440 million years ago.

Luckily, David Thompson, deputy project director on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, told National Geographic that GRBs aren’t really a big concern.

He told the magazine the risk was equivalent to “the danger I might face if I found a polar bear in my closet in Bowie, Maryland."

Or two.Polar Bear International

8) The universe could go to pieces in its final “Big Rip."

This is the thing that could actually end the whole universe, not just the Earth.

The idea: A mysterious force called dark energy is pushing the universe apart at a faster and faster rate.

If this keeps accelerating, as it seems to be doing now, perhaps 22 billion years from now the force that keeps atoms together will fail — and all matter in the universe will dissolve into radiation.

But assuming the “Big Rip” is a dud, who knows what might happen after a global calamity humans don’t survive?

It’s possible some microbes will survive to reseed more complex life.

But if our destruction is total, we could at least hope some other intelligent life exists out there, and can pay its respects.