Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz: A Cosmic Perspective on the Future of Life on Earth

We live in a universe that is 13 billion years old. When considering the age of our universe, humans and human civilization have only been around for the blink of an eye. We may take it for granted that civilization and life on Earth will continue to flourish indefinitely. But there is no guarantee that this will be the case. In this Astronomy on Tap, we’ll discuss short and long term threats to the future of life on Earth. In the short term, we’ll discuss the human impacts on this finite planet and the resulting polycrisis that will unfold over the coming decades. In the long term, we’ll discuss other threats to life such as the formation of the next super continent, exploding nearby stars, and the eventual death of our Sun.