will there be a point when we the humans will evacuate the planet earth?

Answer 1

To correctly answer this question you, and all of the people responding must understand that it currently costs
$10,000 U.S. to lift a ONE POUND PAYLOAD up to the Space Station. Now that is not a trip to the Moon, or Mars, or anywhere else. If you factor in the extended travel time of say 3 Years for a trip to Mars, make that $30,000,000 per pound of payload (or human flesh).

While reading with excitement the various responses of others to your question, it only makes sense to sit down and calculate the cubic feet of air used by a human being in one day. Multiply that by 365 days per year, and multiply that again by 10,000 to 20,000 for a long, long, long flight to a distant location. And please consider that the nearest star like our Sun which might have a solar system is 4.5 Light Years away from us. Our current space ships fly at around 30,000 Miles Per Hour - not 186,000 Miles Per Second (speed of light).

Now humans need water to survive, and hopefully a good supply of food. Kindly compute for us the total number of gallons of water one space traveler might need for 10,000 years times 8 Lbs per gallon. Figure 3 pounds for food and all other consumeables per day. And, you come up with what weight to be lifted into space for one long distance space traveler???

One heck of a lot. ...Don't think it will happen.

Given those huge costs to go somewhere, I do not think it will ever be possible for any but a few to go any distance in Space. In this case, a few means less than 100 in the next 100 years.

Answer 2

Never. First of all, remember that earth now has about six billion people. If anyone evacuates, they will have to do so in secret because there is no way that all of us could go, and the ones who get left behind would try to destroy the ones who try to escape. Then there is the problem of where to go . . . there are no other known planets within practical reach . . . the nearest star is over four light years away, and there is no evidence that there is any sort of solar system there. Once (that is, *if*) we find one with a solar system, we will need to make sure the conditions are habitable . . . finding one would seem more of a miracle than anything else. Getting there may take hundreds of years, and we would need food and environmental control, government, and enough genetic material to provide a future for the newer generations.

Some people have faith that science will keep going and that all of these problems will be solved . . . but I find it hard to count on unforeseen possibilities.

Answer 3

If such a point is reached the difficulty of leaving the Earth would be astronomical (no pun intended).

We would have to have the technology to do so. Right now we can barely make it to the Moon or Mars. Space technology of this nature is a long way off How would you decide who is to leave? Where would you go? How much warning would you have? There are so many unanswered questions on this subject. Some questions we probably don't even know there will be.

Answer 4

Assuming we last that long, in 4-5 billion years our sun will become a red giant necessitating our evacuation. But hell, if we are still around in 4-5 billion years I would think that it wouldn't be too big of a deal for us to leave, we may even be able to control the sun in some way by then.

Answer 5

I would think so. Ultimately some 4-5 billion years from now the sun will supernova, if we don't get off the planet well in advance of that we'll die out.

This is where terraforming and space exploration in general are good subjects of research. If we develop a basic understanding (initial footwork) of it's probable development in the near future, it would allow another generation to completely develop the science at a later time.

Answer 6

We may have to evacuate or become extinct depending on what global warming does but since the space program is about at a standstill, it would probably have to be a private person or organization that gets space travel going.

Answer 7

Not unless we come together to devise a means to first. We will need to eventually leave earth, as the sun will expand in a few billion years and consume the inner planets in fiery corona.

Answer 8

If we ever develop a "warp" drive of some kind, and find comparable planets elsewhere, then I guess we could. But how do you find homes in our solar system for 6 billion humans?

.....

Answer 9

Nope, we will collectively grab our lawn chairs, an ice chest, some cold brews, and sit outside and watch the end in the ultimate surround sound.

Or, people will be too engrossed in Paris Hilton's great grandchild latest award winning movie to notice...

Answer 10

If you mean EVERYBODY evacuating, I'd say probably not.
If you mean SOME of us evacuating then I'd say definitely so, eventually.