Alien civilizations are likely killing themselves due to climate change, according to a grim study

It may take less than 1,000 years for an advanced alien civilization to destroy its own planet due to climate change, even if it relies entirely on renewable energy, according to a new model.

When astrophysicists simulated the rise and fall of Foreigner They found that if a civilization experienced exponential technological growth and energy consumption, it would take less than 1,000 years for the alien planet to become too hot to be habitable. This would be the case even if civilization were to use renewable energy sources, as there will inevitably be loss in the form of heat, as the laws of thermodynamics predict. The new research was published in the preprint database arXiv and is currently undergoing peer review.

While astrophysicists wanted to understand the implications for life beyond our planet, their study was initially inspired by human energy consumption, which has increased exponentially since the 19th century. In 2023, people consumed approximately 180,000 terawatt hours (TWh), which is approximately the amount of energy that hits the Earth from the Sun at any point in time. Much of this energy is generated by gas and coal, which is heating the planet at an unsustainable rate. But even if all this energy were generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar energy, humanity would continue to grow and therefore require more and more energy.

“The question became: 'Is this something that is sustainable over a long period of time?'” Manasvi Lingaman astrophysicist at Florida Tech and co-author of the study, told Live Science in an interview.

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Lingam and his co-author Amedeo BalbiAssociate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome, were interested in the application Second law of thermodynamics to this problem. This law states that there is no perfect energy system in which all energy produced is used efficiently; Some energy always has to escape from the system. This escaping energy will cause a planet to warm over time.

“You can think of it like a leaky bathtub,” Lingam said. If a bathtub that only has a little water in it leaks, only a small amount can flow out, he explained. But as the bathtub continues to fill up—as energy levels increase exponentially to meet demand—a small leak can suddenly become a flooded home.

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In this case, the flooded house corresponds to the atmospheric temperature of a planet. An accumulation of energy losses, even with green energy, will eventually overheat any planet to the point where it is no longer habitable. If energy levels are not curbed, this catastrophic level will be reached Climate change The team found that it could take less than 1,000 years from the start of energy production.

For astrobiologists, this 1,000-year limit also makes it significantly more difficult to find life elsewhere in the cosmos. After all, 1,000 years is a blink of an eye cosmically speaking, since planets like Earth take hundreds of millions of years to even become habitable. But alien extinction is not the only possible consequence of exponential energy consumption, Lingam said.

However, there are other possibilities, both for humans and extraterrestrial civilizations. Instead of accepting extinction or developing the technology to move energy production off-planet, a civilization might choose to slow its growth, Lingam suggested.

“If a species chose balance and learned to live in harmony with its environment, that species and its descendants could perhaps survive for up to a billion years,” he said.

Alien civilizations are likely killing themselves due to climate change, according to a grim study

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