The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-08-22

WASHINGTON, ID. c., Aug. 15.-The
end Of the human race! How and
yhen vii, it ultimately come about?
This startling question have lately
nut to eminent men of science.
That man has but three million
more years to live is the opinion given
by DR.. 4. j. j. See, the well-known
astronomer of the naval observatory.
At the end of that time the sun,
which has already expended eight
ninths Of its energy, will have ex-
hausted its other ninth and will have
burned out. The whole solar system
will then be bathed in perpetual night.
The earth and its sister planets will
continue, however, to travel on their
orbits about the darkened sun. The
latter will still be the centre Of the
solar system.
Man might continue to live in dark
ness if absence of his daylight supply
we're the only effect of the suns
burning out. Within three hundred
years, not to mention three million,
man will have learned to manufacture
artificial daylight. But when the
suns light goes out its heat will go
with it. The determination Of all
earthly life, such as now exists, will,
in DR.. See opinion, result from cold.
At the present time, he thinks, the
sun is growing hotter. It probably
will become twice as hot as it is now
before beginning to cool. But this
does not mean that it will give the
earth twice as much heat as it docs
now, or that in summer thermometers
will eventually 80 up TO 200 degrees
in our zone. With the sun twice as
hot the earth might be even cooler
than now. After doubling it's own
heat the sun will begin to lose it.
The cooling and darkening Of the
earth will then be gradual. There
will be no sudden catastrophe marking
the determination Of mankind and Of
other forms Of life, the astronomer
says. The great .oeeane w;l! slowly
freeze over. They will ultimately be-
come absorbed by the land. Later
our atmosphere viii cease to be .vapor,
and will lie like snow upon the earth Q
crust. 81 & #
But Why should We worry? Assume
that the last earthly mortal freezes to
death in the year 300190O A. D..
What relation will he be to his ances-
tors Of to.day2 Next presume that
the average generation Will continue
during these thirty Thousand centu-
ries to measure thirty years. ae now.
Now, take a slip Of paper mile and q
half long and write upan !. she word
'great" S9,998 times, side by side.
At the end Of that write grandson"
Thus you have the last mans approx
mate relationship to his present an
cestors.
But is not comet likely to hit lis
at some time before these 100000
years shall have passed." I asked
DR.. See.
Suppose it did. It might knock
down a skycraper or two. Nothing
worse would happen" replied he.
care we not liable at some time to
collide with another planets"
"We find that the entire solar sys-
tenn is continually fastening in the
direction Of the constellation Of the
Lyre. That distant group of planets you
can now see almost directly overhead.
When we ultimately reach them we
shall probably pass through without
damage. There is one chance in q
million that we will strike one Of their
number. OF course, if we collide
With a body-relatively great in extent
it might sweep us entirely away from
the sun. But it will take ages and
ages before we will ever reach this
ss,e. 4-af
constellation. We are quietly moving
through space, and il any disturbing
element appears directly in our path
astronomers will give the signal many
centuries in advance Of our reach
ing it.
Lord Kelvin thinks that there is
only enough oxygen in our atmo mosphere
to last mankind some three hundred
years. How about that?''
"Plant life will continue TO convert
our carbonic acid gas back into oxy-
gen, as il has done for ages. The
earth vegetation will not decrease as
civilization advances. The destruc-
ton Of our forests will never be
Effected so long as man intellect i'm
proves. Such vandalism will be pro.
hibited by law and some day mankind