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
Well, yes the water cycle is basically like a giant reverse osmosis filter but really it’s mostly that the earth’s complete biosphere is much more adaptable than humanity is. All humans would die long before all the varieties of plant and animal life would and whatever life remained would gradually take over again. The Anthropocene Epoch is only a blink of the Earth’s eye compared to other Epochs.
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