How much longer do you think our planet will last (environmentally) ?

Question

How much longer do you think our planet will last (environmentally) ?

Answer 1

1000generations

Answer 2

Until God decides to end it! Duh

Answer 3

With the way Bush is leading us here it is:

Democrat leadership:130 years

Republican leadership:9 years

Answer 4

enviromentally, not very long.

but then, it is up to Him

Answer 5

Much longer than the Human race.

Answer 6

Once humans become extinct, the environment of the planet will be better off for other living things.

Humans are the only species that knowingly destroy their environment, and do little to get it back to the way that they got it.

Other forms of flora and fauna will thrive, as they have for hundreds of millions of years, and things might change, as the environment will surely change, so the planet should last "environmentally" for at least as long as the planet can sustain life, and the sun can burn its hydrogen fuel at its current rate, to sustain this life.

For an idea of the Sun's life expectancy, astronomers look to clusters of stars, such as one named Messier 67, which is about the same age as our Sun. By simulating the life cycles of these stars on a computer, astronomers have ascertained how long stars live. They predict that the Sun will be able to fuse hydrogen into helium in its core at about the same rate for another 5 billion years.  If the Sun were a car, the gas tank would now be half full.

What will happen when the Sun does run out of gas? (Hydrogen gas, that is.) Fortunately, the Sun will still have reserves of hydrogen in the layers that surround the core. The core will heat up this shell of hydrogen. When the shell gets hot enough to fuse hydrogen to helium, the release of energy will carry on there. It is as if the driver of the car poured an extra few gallons into the fuel tank.

But this trick has a price. The source of energy will no longer be the dense, massive core, but rather a shell closer to the surface -- and that will make a big (so to speak) difference in the structure of the Sun. The Sun will puff up until its radius is 30 times greater. It will become a red giant, similar to the star Arcturus, though much smaller than a supergiant such as Betelgeuse . A red giant is red because its exterior cooled from 9,000 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it expanded; for a star, red means cool. This red-giant stage will last for about 2 billion years.

Answer 7

not too long ago it was a safe place and looking at a global perspective it has declined quite a bit in a small amount of time so i am inclined to believe it will get take a snow ball effect

Answer 8

Since life constantly evolves to take advantage of a changing planet, life will exist on this planet as long as the planet continues to revolve around the sun.  Life as we know it, however, will never be the same...since it's always changing.  Nothing on this planet is static.

Answer 9

Since human beings are like a virus..mother earth has a bad cold. We are not the first species to affect the earth dramatically and we won't be the last. The earth will go on with or without us.

Answer 10

I dont want to estimate...but know this...it's going to be VERY soon...nobody takes care of it...those who do aren't enough...theyre branded as weirdos...nobody gives a toss, sadly....I do...but one person isn't enough...there are 6billion people in the world...about 1 million work to help...what of the rest?

Answer 11

The earth is pretty resilient, therefore that question cannot be answered accurately.

Answer 12

unknown... but i would say 100-500 years