The Earth was born 4.5 billion years ago; it is one of the rocky planets inside our solar system and, to our knowledge, the only one alive.
After billions of years of evolution, the Earth today is heading towards the middle of its existence. For this moment in the history of the planet, the Earth is home to a large number of living organisms, simple and complex. In addition, it has characteristics that make it a living and changing system: it has a metallic core hotter than the surface of the Sun, which provides it with a magnetic field. It has tectonic activity, which continuously transforms and recycles its surface; and, furthermore, it is influenced by external events: the Sun itself, its satellite (the Moon), meteorites that frequently fall on it, cosmic rays from outer space …
All these processes form a delicate balance in which the Earth can retain its current characteristics , which are what allow the living beings that inhabit it to prosper. But, as with any living system, nothing lasts forever. Someday, some of these delicate processes will be disturbed, and this could unleash very serious consequences for Earth … even lethal.
The death of the Sun, the impact of radiation from outside the solar system, the interaction of some colossal astronomical object … In the universe, any process superior (in size and power) to the Earth and its tiny living space in our modest system solar could sweep away our planet forever.
That the Earth disappears one day, for some scientists, does not have to mean, however, the disappearance of humanity. The achievement of certain technological achievements could imply that the human species transcends the Earth itself, colonizing other worlds or inhabiting ships, and other derivative devices. But the destruction of our planet will happen, sooner or later, whether we are there to witness it or not.
In how many ways could planet Earth disappear? And, if it doesn’t disappear, in what ways could it become completely uninhabited and geologically dead? In this gallery, we are going to explore some of these apocalyptic scenarios, based on hypotheses formulated by scientists and on the influence, both of our own cosmic neighborhood, as well as other neighboring stellar objects, potential killers of our home.
