人们估测，在遥远的将来太阳会使地球热得不能再居住，发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）杂志上的一项研究把这个时间向后推了至少十亿年。Earth's Fried Far-Future Postponed

    About a billion years from now, some scientists say, the sun will be too bright for comfort, and our formerly hospitable planet will no longer be able to support life. If visions of this impending heat death disturb you, researchers from the California Institute of Technology have some good news. Their calculations add at least another billion years to Earth's expiration date, results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    As our sun matures it grows brighter and hotter. And over the past three or four billion years, the Earth's been coping with the extra rays by getting rid of some of the CO2 in the atmosphere. Thinning out the CO2 that blankets the earth helps to keep things cool. But that can't go on forever because we'd be left with no blanket at all.

    Now the Caltech scientists say that the planet may be able to compensate by removing nitrogen from the atmosphere. That'll decrease atmospheric pressure, which will then loosen the weave of the CO2 blanket and allow more heat to escape. So stop and smell the roses. We may have an additional billion years to figure out this extreme case of global warming.

    地球被烤焦的时间推后了

    一部分科学家们说，从现在起的10亿年后，太阳将会变得太耀眼以致于让人不舒服，而我们以前适合居住地球将不再能支持生命。如果这个未来将要到来的热死让你忧虑，那么来自加州理工学院的研究者们给你带了一些好消息。

    随着我们的太阳逐渐变得成熟，它也越来越明亮，也越来越热。在过去的30或40亿年里面，地球为了应付来自太阳更多的射线，把大气中的一部分CO2去除 掉。CO2层像一床毯子一样覆盖着地球，让CO2层变薄可以使地球上的物质不至于太热。但是这种过程不可能永远持续下去，因为这样的话，我们最后就会没有 CO2保护层了。

    现在加州理工的科学家们说，地球可能通过移走空气中的氮气来达到让地球保持凉爽的效果。这样会降低大气压，使得CO2层变得稀薄，从而让更多的热散发出去。因此，好好享受生活吧！我们可能还有额外多的10亿年来想办法解决这个极端的全球变暖的问题。