Future of the Earth
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The future of the Earth will be determined by a variety of factors,
including increases in the luminosity of the Sun, loss of heat energy from the
Earth's core,
perturbations by the other bodies in the Solar System and the
biochemistry at the Earth's surface. Milankovitch theory
predicts the planet will continue to undergo glaciation
cycles because of eccentricity,
axial
tilt, and precession of the Earth's
orbit. As part of the ongoing supercontinent
cycle, plate tectonics will
probably result in a supercontinent in 250
million–350 million years. Some time in the next 1.5 billion–4.5 billion years,
the axial tilt of the Earth may begin to undergo chaotic variations, with
changes in the axial tilt of up to 90°.