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Imagine a future when all of Earth’s continents come together again to form one gigantic landmass, dramatically transforming the oceans, climate and landscape. Scientists’ long-term geological models suggest that around 200 million years from now, Earth could develop another supercontinent, potentially creating extreme environmental conditions that may make survival difficult for humans and many other mammals.
Around 200 million years ago, the ancient supercontinent Pangaea began breaking apart, eventually giving rise to the continents we know today. In the distant future, tectonic plate movements could once again bring the continents together. Scientists have proposed several possible scenarios, including Novopangaea, Aurica, Amasia and Pangaea Ultima.
In some models, the Pacific Ocean could shrink while the Atlantic expands. In another scenario, continents could gather around the equator, creating an extremely hot and dry environment. Under the Pangaea Ultima/Proxima scenario, the Atlantic and Indian oceans could eventually close as continents collide, creating a vast supercontinent with enormous inland regions far from the moderating influence of oceans.
Such areas could become extremely hot and dry, while volcanic activity and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide could further intensify global temperatures. Some scientific models suggest that only a small fraction of the land could remain suitable for terrestrial mammals under such extreme conditions, potentially placing humans and other mammals at serious risk.
However, this is not a definite prediction of human extinction. These are scientific models of an extremely distant future, based on assumptions about tectonic movements, climate and atmospheric changes. Over hundreds of millions of years, Earth could evolve in ways that are impossible to predict today.
One thing is certain ,the Earth we know today may look completely different millions of years from now.
