Most alien civilisations risk fuelling global warming on their planets

By Ibrahim Sawal

Most planets inhabited by advanced civilisations would be likely to face catastrophic climate change as a result of burning fuel, researchers have found.

Human activity has had a geological impact on Earth, putting it into a new epoch known as the Anthropocene. Adam Frank at the University of Rochester, New York, and his colleagues wanted to know if the same thing might happen on other Earth-like planets.

The researchers began with the assumption that “exocivilisations” would arise on planets with initial carbon dioxide levels …