Yahoo Autos Earth's core is rapidly cooling, study reveals. Is our planet becoming 'inactive'?
Earth's interior is cooling faster than we previously estimated, according to a recent study, prompting questions about how long people can live on the planet.
There's no exact timetable on the cooling process, which could eventually turn Earth solid, similar to Mars. But results from a new study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, focuses on how quickly the core may cool by studying bridgmanite, a heat-conducting mineral commonly found at the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle.
“Our results could give us a new perspective on the evolution of the Earth’s dynamics," ETH Zurich professor Motohiko Murakami, the lead author of the study, said in a press release. "They suggest that Earth, like the other rocky planets Mercury and Mars, is cooling and becoming inactive much faster than expected."
