Earth expected to get too hot for humans

Researchers say that our planet’s increasing proximity to the sun will eventually result in soaring temperatures, the seas drying up and the extinction of all life.

But according to a study by the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, man-made climate change will make human life impossible long before this happens and our best chance of survival would be to relocate to another planet – with Mars being the most suitable option.

Andrew Rushby, from the university’s school of environmental sciences, said: “We estimate that Earth will cease to be habitable somewhere between 1.75 and 3.25 billion years from now.

“After this point, Earth will be in the ‘hot zone’ of the sun, with temperatures so high that the seas would evaporate. We would see a catastrophic and terminal extinction event for all life.

“Of course conditions for humans and other complex life will become impossible much sooner – and this is being accelerated by anthropogenic climate change.”

Mr Rushby added: “To date, no true Earth analogue planet has been detected.

“But it is possible that there will be a habitable, Earth-like planet within 10 light-years, which is very close in astronomical terms. However reaching it would take hundreds of thousands of years with our current technology.

“If we ever needed to move to another planet, Mars is probably our best bet.