As the Sun grows older, it is expected to get slightly brighter, which means the Earth (and the other planets) will get hotter. When the Sun starts to run out of hydrogen in its core, in about five thousand million years, then it will swell into a red giant star, about 40 times larger than it is today, so then it will reach about halfway to the orbit of Mercury, and will have an apparent diameter of about 20 degrees in the Earth's sky.
The Sun then also increases in brightness to about 1000 times the brightness it has today, and that means that the Solar System gets much hotter than it is today. At the distance where the Earth is today, the average temperature of a pitch-black sphere that the Sun shines on will increase from about room temperature to about 1850 degrees Celsius. The zone where life can exist will shift from the Earth's orbit out to about the orbit of Neptune.
When the Sun has become a red giant, then it will likely start to shed part of its outer layers: great clouds of gas will fly away from the Sun, and these will disrupt the orbit of the Earth because of their friction. I don't know whether they'll make the Earth lose speed and fall into the Sun, or whether they'll push the Earth away from the Sun.
In any case, the Earth will not be a good place to live when the Sun turns into a red giant in about four thousand million years or so. This won't be a big problem, because it is estimated that the Earth will not be able to sustain life anymore after the next two thousand million years or so, because of natural chemical and geological processes in the Earth and the atmosphere.
The inside of the Earth is still cooling down from its formation, and eventually it will cool down so much that volcanoes stop working and the molten material inside the Earth stops moving around.
The Earth continuously loses oxygen and water vapor and other gases from the atmosphere, because they escape into space. The loss of these gases is today made up for by new gases that come from below the surface of the Earth, through volcanoes. So, when volcanoes stop working, then the loss of oxygen and water vapor is no longer balanced, and the Earth will slowly dry out and the atmosphere will change.
The Sun then also increases in brightness to about 1000 times the brightness it has today, and that means that the Solar System gets much hotter than it is today. At the distance where the Earth is today, the average temperature of a pitch-black sphere that the Sun shines on will increase from about room temperature to about 1850 degrees Celsius. The zone where life can exist will shift from the Earth's orbit out to about the orbit of Neptune.
When the Sun has become a red giant, then it will likely start to shed part of its outer layers: great clouds of gas will fly away from the Sun, and these will disrupt the orbit of the Earth because of their friction. I don't know whether they'll make the Earth lose speed and fall into the Sun, or whether they'll push the Earth away from the Sun.
In any case, the Earth will not be a good place to live when the Sun turns into a red giant in about four thousand million years or so. This won't be a big problem, because it is estimated that the Earth will not be able to sustain life anymore after the next two thousand million years or so, because of natural chemical and geological processes in the Earth and the atmosphere.
The inside of the Earth is still cooling down from its formation, and eventually it will cool down so much that volcanoes stop working and the molten material inside the Earth stops moving around.
The Earth continuously loses oxygen and water vapor and other gases from the atmosphere, because they escape into space. The loss of these gases is today made up for by new gases that come from below the surface of the Earth, through volcanoes. So, when volcanoes stop working, then the loss of oxygen and water vapor is no longer balanced, and the Earth will slowly dry out and the atmosphere will change.
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