What If Earth Doubled in Size? Exploring the Fascinating Consequences
One of the Earth facts that we know is that it’s huge. However, it is not as big as the other planets in the solar system. Some people argue that if the size of this planet was bigger, it would have had easier time adjusting to the higher number of populace. So, just imagine if Earth became twice its size at this moment.
How do you think things will go down? You may have a different idea, but the fact of the matter is that surviving would be near impossible if that were to happen. The reason we say this is because Earth has the perfect amount of gravity, mass, and density.
Furthermore, it is in the perfect spot. A little bit close to the sun and everything on the planet would evaporate and little bit farther from the sun would mean freezing atmosphere. If Earth doubled in size, following things will occur.
Evaporate or Freeze
Due to doubling the size, we will get closer to the sun, which means that most of the things on the planet Earth would evaporate. Increase in the size will also have an impact on the freezing as most of the water will stay frozen for a very long time.
None of these scenarios help us in any way because in both cases, the humans don’t make it out alive. We can’t comprehend too much heat, neither can we survive in a freezing atmosphere for long. Humans would be the last ones to suffer from it though.
Moon Would Shatter
Another one of the Earth facts that we have to keep in mind is that the distance between our planet and moon is quite minimal. If Earth were to double in size, it will become closer to the moon. The gravitational tug will force moon to change its routine when it is not capable of doing so. In result, it will break in multiple pieces that will scatter around space. Not only that, it will affect the solar system as a whole as the planet’s movement will be affected.
Too Hot or Too Cold
When the size of Earth is doubled, the first casualties would be the flora and fauna. All of the plants and trees will suffer big time from this change and are more than likely to die. Same is the case with animals. This is also one of the Earth facts. The flora and fauna can’t survive in another atmosphere. Most of them will evaporate the moment Earth expands because of their sensitivity towards heat or cold.
Others will be able to survive for a little longer. However, without an ecosystem in place, things will not remain the same for very long. Soon, the animals will start to vanish as well. So, basically, no one will be able to live in that atmosphere because there’d be too much cold in certain regions, while some of them would be too warm.
Double Gravity
Another one of the Earth facts that we know is that the gravity is in a perfect place. With the increase in size, the gravity pull will be doubled as well. Just like climate change, this would also have a huge impact on everything surrounding us. The major affect will happen to us humans as we will not be able to walk upright anymore without the upper body strength.
It will feel like you are carrying a weight on yourself as you walk. You will need a lot of power just to take a walk. Vehicles will take a huge hit as well because their speed will become extremely slow. Slower vehicles will still function in the cities.
However, the people living in mountain areas will have a bad time dealing with this. Due to double gravity, the vehicles will have a hard time going up and that would prove to be a disaster.
Erupting Volcanoes
The biggest and the most dangerous change that will occur with Earth doubling in its size is the increase in erupting volcanoes. Almost all of the mountains will fill up with lava, which will erupt on regular basis. At the moment, there are a very few volcanoes and the ones that are present are pretty far from the general populace. It’s just Earth facts.
However, when the Earth size doubles, the heat will increase and every single mountain will start erupting. There’d be lava in almost every mountain based area. There’d be no escaping it either because it will keep on happening over and over again. The mountain areas will get flooded with lava first, and then it will trickle down. Soon, all the land will just become lava and there’d be nothing left on the planet.
Trees Will Stop Growing
The trees that we have now will all fall over due to the double gravity and the trees that will be planted after the double size won’t grow above a few feet. The gravity is just at the right point and even a slight bit of variation in it can cause an epidemic.
Gravity is holding everything together and with it doubling in size, trees will take a huge hit. Without any trees, global warming will approach even faster, which will result in erupting volcanoes everywhere.
Earth is Perfect
One of the biggest Earth facts is that it is perfect. We want it to be so many things and we forget that it is awesome in its current state. If anything were to happen to Earth, it will also have an impact on the planets that surround us. The stars will get hugely affected as well.
The entire universe is held together by the current design. If anything were to get affected in any way, everything else will get destroyed or incredibly damaged. Flora and fauna have been able to survive on this land because it the only capable land of allowing it to. There’s a reason we can’t survive in space or any other planet. Earth is the perfect balance between everything.
We have been able to last for countless centuries on this planet, and that won’t change anytime soon. There are a lot of problems that we are facing like climate change and pollution, but they can all be countered if the higher authorities pay attention. Surviving on other planets however, is out of the question right now. Even if Earth size was doubled, it wouldn’t really help and the reasons behind it have been explained above.