A Future Underwater
A Future Underwater
Will humans evolve to live in the ocean?
Our hypothesis is that over the course of millions of years, the ozone layer will develop more holes until it is completely destroyed, the Earth's overall temperature will raise and all of the ice in the world—polar ice caps, glaciers, etc.—will melt, causing the ocean to rise to the point where only the tallest mountains still stand above water. To keep the species alive, humans will have to live in the ocean and develop gills and other useful underwater traits.
Humans have already evolved from a primate ancestor, leaving transitional fossil evidence for different phases of the evolution to modern humans—Homo habilus and Homo erectus, for example, are two stages of the transformation to Homo sapiens, the species that all modern humans belong to. According to the Hardy-Weinberg theorem, evolution will only not occur under very rigid circumstances, and since those circumstances do not apply to humans, the species is continuing to evolve, and is very likely to develop into an entirely new species eventually—perhaps Homo aquaticus, humans that will live underwater.
The ocean is currently rising at a rate of 2-3 millimeters a year. However, if temperature rises, the ice may eventually start melting and the water may start expanding at a much greater rate, though it will still take thousands to millions of years for all of the ice to melt and raise the ocean to it's greatest possible capacity. Therefore, even if the humans begin their evolution to aquatic creatures as the evolutionary crisis is happening, it will be a case of phyletic gradualism, happening over the course of millions of years, leaving transitional fossil evidence behind.
Most likely, however, the human adaptation leading them to survive underwater will not arise until it is necessary for survival of the species—therefore, once the ocean has risen to its maximum height, and the human species has dwindled greatly from lack of
Will humans evolve to live in the ocean?
Our hypothesis is that over the course of millions of years, the ozone layer will develop more holes until it is completely destroyed, the Earth's overall temperature will raise and all of the ice in the world—polar ice caps, glaciers, etc.—will melt, causing the ocean to rise to the point where only the tallest mountains still stand above water. To keep the species alive, humans will have to live in the ocean and develop gills and other useful underwater traits.
Humans have already evolved from a primate ancestor, leaving transitional fossil evidence for different phases of the evolution to modern humans—Homo habilus and Homo erectus, for example, are two stages of the transformation to Homo sapiens, the species that all modern humans belong to. According to the Hardy-Weinberg theorem, evolution will only not occur under very rigid circumstances, and since those circumstances do not apply to humans, the species is continuing to evolve, and is very likely to develop into an entirely new species eventually—perhaps Homo aquaticus, humans that will live underwater.
The ocean is currently rising at a rate of 2-3 millimeters a year. However, if temperature rises, the ice may eventually start melting and the water may start expanding at a much greater rate, though it will still take thousands to millions of years for all of the ice to melt and raise the ocean to it's greatest possible capacity. Therefore, even if the humans begin their evolution to aquatic creatures as the evolutionary crisis is happening, it will be a case of phyletic gradualism, happening over the course of millions of years, leaving transitional fossil evidence behind.
Most likely, however, the human adaptation leading them to survive underwater will not arise until it is necessary for survival of the species—therefore, once the ocean has risen to its maximum height, and the human species has dwindled greatly from lack of