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IHumans are unlikely to be around to see it, but in about 250 million years, Earth’s land masses will have moved together to form the next supercontinent. By then, the sun will be a little brighter and the Earth’s rotation will have slowed, making a day about 30 minutes longer than today. So, what will it be like to live on this future Earth?
Michael Way of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and his colleagues used computer models to travel through time. They studied two plausible scenarios: Aurica (a low latitude supercontinent developing in about 250 million years) and Amasia (a northern high latitude supercontinent plus a smaller Antarctic subcontinent in about 200 million years).
Their results, published in Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geosystems, show that the high elevation lands on Amasia will help promote snowfall and create ice caps. This bright, white supercontinent will reflect more solar heat and have a climate closer to Earth’s Last Ice Maximum. In contrast, the more tropical Aurica will have little snow or ice and an average temperature of around 20C (68F). Understanding how Earth might evolve helps exoplanet hunters know what to look for in their search for nearby habitable worlds.
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