In a billion years, the Sun will brighten, and Earth's plants could perish. But new research shows this deadline is receding! By accounting for seafloor weathering and random carbon dioxide emissions, scientists give the biosphere more time — perhaps up to 1.86 billion years.
🎯 The process of rock weathering that regulates climate was discovered only in the 20th century, though it has been operating for billions of years.
🎬 In Asimov's 'Foundation', scientists predicted the fall of civilization centuries ahead; here astronomers peer a billion years into the future of the biosphere.