Figure 13.3: Examples of what could destroy life as we know it or permanently curtail its potential. Whereas our Universe itself will likely last for at least tens of billions of years, our Sun will scorch Earth in about a billion years and then swallow it unless we move it to a safe distance, and our Galaxy will collide with its neighbor in about 3.5 billion years. Although we don’t know exactly when, we can predict with near certainty that long before this, asteroids will pummel us and supervolcanoes will cause yearlong sunless winters. In the immediate term, we may face self-inflicted
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