1) Eruption of the volcano under Yellowstone National Park
2) Meteorite impact – we are overdue for an event similar to what kiboshed the dinosaurs
3) Exterminated by space aliens building a bypass :>) [HHGTTG]
This isn’t a very cheerful question. I am inclined to agree with Laura that we are likely to use up resources before we need to worry about being engulfed by the sun. It would be interesting to see how we managed living without all of this technology we have become so used to having.
I am going to agree with Robert here. We are overdue for an explosion from Yellowstone. Then again, it’s unlikely to result in a species extinction. For sure, if you are American then probably you have an issue. The population would drop substantially, but we would endure.
The only real options for a species extinction would be a pandemic of apocalyptic scale, resulting in systemic collapse and substantial loss of life. If some form of civilisation isn’t restored rapidly then we could be looking at complete extinction.
The most obvious route is meteorite impact, a substantial impact would obliterate all life in an instant.
Alien invasion is another possibility. Interaction with an alien civilisation is likely to result in warfare of some kind, and if they arrived here then they would probably be substantially more advanced than us. They could take our planet by force should they wish, and that doesn’t include the possibility of alien bacteria or illnesses which we would most likely be unprepared to withstand (see pandemic).
John is ultimately right though, if nothing stops us in the meantime, we need to get off the planet and out of the solar system, otherwise we are constrained by the lifetime of our sun. Failing THAT then we will be good until the heat death of the universe I guess.
I quite enjoy apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, so I don’t find this quite as depressing as some might!
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