What if Earth's gravity doubled? Experts introduce these changes to the earth, animals and plants

Earth is our most comfortable home right now, and we can't live without it. If our planet loses its balance one day and doubles its gravity, will we change anything? What will the earth be like?

Changes in the first earth: Let's first see if the earth's gravity will be doubled. Not only would this lead to huge cracks, but also the thin crust of what we consider a 'solid' Earth, but the resulting release of huge gravitational potential energy could be enough to heat the surface beyond its melting point, calculations were not done, so it's a valid one Guess that means the end of all life on Earth as we know it. Thousands of years later, when a now-smaller Earth's surface solidifies again and water vapor from the superheated atmosphere begins to precipitate to form new oceans, life may begin anew. Note that on this smaller, more compact Earth, the oceans may now be deep enough to cover the entire planet, or nearly all of it so if any dry land is left, it probably won't be much more than a few chains.

At the same time, the moon's orbit will change drastically, although it could eventually sink into a circular orbit closer to Earth than it does now, resulting in larger tides and shorter months. The rotation rate of the Earth will also increase, resulting in shorter days. Given that our sun is a middle-aged star, there may not be enough time for solar life to reappear on Earth before the sun turns into a giant, burning the planet's surface to cinder and blowing away its atmosphere and ocean, or engulfing the planet entirely .

Second flora and fauna change: The tallest tree on the planet is the great redwood tree. They can reach heights of 360 feet. They cannot grow any higher than that due to cohesion-tension theory. The mechanism by which water is transported from the ground to the highest branches and leaves on trees is capillary action. The action is fighting against gravity eventually it reaches a point where the pressure isn't strong enough, and the bubbles stop the fluid from being carried away - thus preventing growth beyond that point.

If gravity is half as strong, then capillary action will be effective at higher altitudes. Plants and trees will be taller, which may lead animals to evolve mechanisms to reach taller trees for food. Some will grow longer legs and necks like giraffes. Animals that can climb or fly have an advantage over those that cannot.

However, to show the complexity - probably the opposite might be true. If we reduce gravity, we reduce convection. If we reduce convection, we reduce air flow. This means that gases like ethylene can stick to plants and hinder their growth.

birds. Birds have evolved to balance the muscular and skeletal structures needed to generate the force needed to push off the ground, and the surface area and low density needed for lift to stay in the air. If we reduce gravity, birds don't need as strong bones or muscles as our gravity field. This changes their appearance - less muscular chests - more delicate bones.

Many of our responses are designed to help us control ourselves when we fall. In smaller gravitational fields, we don't descend as fast, so quick reactions aren't needed. So land animals may be more like sloths. Slow but long limbs reach and climb up in search of food.

When the first "fish" climbed out of the water, they transitioned from a buoyant environment to a gravitational one. They must evolve to survive this transition. If the acceleration of gravity is less, the transitions may be less traumatic - they may transition earlier. Maybe they will bypass the land stage and go straight from the water to the air!

If we look at animals with similar species living on land, in trees or in water, we see some differences. For example, snakes that live in trees have their hearts close to their heads, and snakes that live in water have their hearts close to the center of their bodies. This suggests that in lower gravity environments, our minds may be farther away from our brains.

We might come up with hundreds of ways of living that might be different - but I'll re-reference the first example at the end, tree speculation is risky because we might not consider a variable that would produce the opposite result.