I recently watched a video that mentioned the “toxic pit problem” of how closed mines turn into toxic lakes full of rainwater and harmful chemicals. Some companies are trying to fix them, but I was wondering if the Earth could “purify” itself if left completely alone?
Like, let’s say all of humanity disappeared tomorrow, could the harmful chemicals be filtered out or dissolved or changed after a billion years?
In: Planetary Science
Nature is pretty resilient. Even if humans were to go extinct, it’ll probably spend some time reclaiming land that was developed, used for mining, etc. New species will evolve to “fill the gaps” left by humans. Most excess greenhouse gases will probably decay or get “scrubbed” from the atmosphere somehow. There will probably always be a certain amount of methane or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but they can adjust to more “normal” levels.
Latest Answers