What would be Apocalypse now
A group of American scientists said there are three realistic reasons for the end of the world. It is not about man-made disasters, like nuclear war or engineered pandemic. According to them, humanity is most likely to die due to solar activity, asteroid or SUPERVOLCANO eruption. Each of these three versions in detail painted in the material of the journal Science. “Iodine” publishes the main points of this text.
SOLAR ACTIVITY
The threat from the Sun can be in the form of a powerful stream of high-energy particles, triggered by the release of substances in the form of plasma from the solar corona. The latter is associated with outbreaks on the surface of the Sun. These emissions do not harm human directly, but their consequences can be impressive. Charged particles getting into the magnetic field of the Earth, can cause geomagnetic storms, which manifest themselves in the form of the Northern lights. In addition, they can lead to failures of electrical systems on Earth.
The most serious impact of the coronal mass ejection of plasma on the Earth recorded in 1989, when in the U.S. state of new Jersey burned the transformer, and the 6 million residents of the canadian province of Quebec were left without electricity. The most powerful in the entire history of observations of the geomagnetic storm, called the “Carrington Event”, was registered in 1859. Then there have been numerous failures in the Telegraph system, and at the latitude of the Caribbean, there were auroras. “If a similar storm occurred in our days, the consequences would be enormous,” says Patricia Reiff, Professor of physics and astronomy at the University of William Marsh rice in the United States.
However, scientists note that similar phenomena occur on the Earth every few centuries. According to a recent study, the probability of recurrence of such a storm in the next 10 years is 12 percent. If this happens, burn out thousands of transformers, and the entire continent will be left without light for weeks, months, and possibly years. Computer life support system, Internet, fuel pipes, water pumps, ATMs and other electricity-dependent infrastructure will stop working.
Modern technologies allow scientists to track what is happening on the Sun the processes. Because of this, they can learn about the upcoming release of plasma still for half an hour before the particle flux reaches the Earth. This can be useful if countries and operators of power grids to prepare for such events. For example, it is possible to improve the security of power systems, but at the moment it is very expensive. The simplest solution is just to disable all the transformers, so they are not blown.
AN ASTEROID OR A COMET
As noted by the American researchers, to minimize the damage to humanity in the event of a collision of Earth with a cosmic body cannot. The only way to escape is to prevent the fall of an asteroid.
At the time the dinosaurs became extinct because of the collision of the planet with an asteroid with a width of 10 kilometers. According to geologist from new York University Michael Rampino, even if the Earth falls celestial body smaller, humanity can not survive. In the middle range of its fall it will be destroyed, and the planet will sweep a strong earthquake and a tsunami. From the fall of an asteroid with a width of 1 kilometer will rise a cloud of dust, through which for several months will not penetrate the sunlight. And the air is filled with soot from numerous fires. The smoke and soot in this case, it will be the beginning of the so-called “asteroid winter” — a very long cold, which will lead to crop failures and mass starvation.
However, such deadly asteroids, according to scientists, falling to the Earth on average every few million years. And space body similar to what killed the dinosaurs — and even more rarely, only once in 100 million years. And yet, to prevent a possible collision of cosmic bodies with the Earth today, scientists are engaged in space monitoring in the search for potentially hazardous asteroids. The researchers hope that in the future, to repel the attacks will be using the churning of the celestial bodies, of course, the gravitational tugs of laser technology or nuclear explosions.
SUPERVOLCANO
The eruption of a huge volcano, according to the researchers, the most probable cause of destruction of humanity. Approximately every 100 thousand years, one of the largest calderas of a volcano with a diameter of up to 50 kilometers begins to erupt, releasing hundreds of cubic kilometers of magma and ash. According to one version, another 74 thousand years ago the SUPERVOLCANO Toba in Indonesia almost destroyed the entire population of the Earth.
On the planet today there are several active volcanoes: the above mentioned Toba, Yellowstone, long valley and vellis in the United States, Taupo on the North island of New Zealand and Aira in Japan. While none of them represent a real threat, but if some of these calderas suddenly begin to erupt, all in a radius of over 100 miles will be burned, and the ashes of a meter cover entire continents. It will destroy the vegetation and make water undrinkable. Due to the eruption can collapse the building will be disrupted power supply. Among the long-term consequences for tens of years may be lowering the temperature by 5-10 degrees in many parts of the Earth due to aerosol contamination. This will have a devastating impact on agriculture worldwide.
However, the researchers say that the volcanic eruption have a chance to prepare. To learn about the impending disaster is possible through observations of the degassing of the mantle, seismic activity and soil deformation due to magma movement. These processes can last for months or even years. Alas, the government always listens to the warnings of scientists. It happened in 1985, when as a result of the eruption of Ruiz in Colombia killed 23 thousand people. The researchers themselves also sometimes make mistakes in their predictions. For example, in the 1980’s, authorities in California have repeatedly warned about a possible eruption of the Caldera of long valley. This did not happen, but hurt the local economy.
However, scientists believe that if the volcano begins to erupt, such an event can only be to wait it out. In order to prepare for this, you must first upgrade industrial enterprises, so they can continue working after a disaster. And the lack of food will have to compensate, for example, eating home-grown foliage and tree trunks mushrooms.
