The fact is, we do not know for certain whether this has happened before in the past and could explain why ancient civilizations died out. It could explain the extinction of dinosaurs. It could explain so many things we only have clues about. If only a fraction of the human race survived this planetary encounter then it could explain why we have clues of advanced civilizations that were wiped out... and then it took thousands or millions of years for the human race to recover... during which time only myths or stories were able to survive the generations. A more elliptical orbit would be bad news for life. Earth orbits in a relatively thin habitable zone around the sun, which allows for temperatures where water can be a solid, liquid or gas. This more elliptical orbit might not push Earth out of this zone, but could bring the planet close enough to the sun to create short, extremely intense summers and then far enough away for very long winters. This would create a shorter growing period and mass food shortages, even human extinction. Life on Earth is very much dependent on the orbit we are in around the sun, said David Bennett, a University of Notre Dame astrophysicist.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 18:57:37 +0000