• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
'World's fastest' continent set to 'crash into' Asia which could have devastating consequences to Earth as we know it

Home> News> World News

Published 11:26 26 Feb 2025 GMT

'World's fastest' continent set to 'crash into' Asia which could have devastating consequences to Earth as we know it

While scientists have issued a warning, the event will not happen in our lifetime

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

Experts have issued an urgent warning as the 'world's fastest' continent is on a collision course with Asia, which could have devastating consequences to Earth as we know it.

Scientists are constantly finding out new things about our planet and wider space, with the 'city-destroying' asteroid taking up the time of many boffins at NASA right now.

A bit closer to home, scientists are starting to become concerned about a natural but also potentially hazardous event that could happen in the future.

Advert

Experts have previously discovered that Australia is moving roughly 2.8 inches northwards every single year, which will see it eventually collide with Asia one day.

The whole process is due to the movement of plate tectonics, with Australia slowly moving North and separating from Antarctica over the years.

Australia is moving northwards (Getty Stock Photo)
Australia is moving northwards (Getty Stock Photo)

The Indo-Australian plate will eventually hit Asia, according to scientists, which could lead to unprecedented changes to Earth.

Advert

Not only will the collision create significant climate change, experts have warned a rise in earthquakes, mountain formations, and volcanic activity could occur due to the tectonic movements.

Professor Zheng-Xiang Li, who looked into the movement back in 2009 with Curtin University, said: "Whether we like it or not the Australian continent is going to collide with Asia.

"Australia is moving northwards 7cms every year, towards Asia. It's very real, that’s the same speed that our fingernails grow each year."

The professor added: "The earth is a living thing, it is always evolving. We believe that the earth evolves in a cyclic pattern, where the continents move apart and now are moving back together.

Advert

"When the continents come together, the earth’s crust will form a sort of 'ring of fire' around the new super-continent. Inland, the super-continent will most likely be very dry in the middle, and the climate totally different."

The collision could have devastating consequences to Earth as we know it (Getty Stock Photo)
The collision could have devastating consequences to Earth as we know it (Getty Stock Photo)

Thankfully, if the collision is to happen - then it certainly won't be happening in our lifetime.

Scientists predict the geographic event is millions of years away from becoming a reality.

Advert

Australia's current rate of movement is enough to impact the country's maps and GPS coordinates today though, despite the tectonic plate that sits underneath it moving minuscule amounts every single year.

These plates are moved by convection currents that sit deep inside our planet, with pressure from a massive underwater mountain range, aka the Indian Ocean Ridge, causing the plates to move.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image

Topics: Australia, Climate Change, Science

Callum Jones
Callum Jones

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

10 hours ago
11 hours ago
  • 10 hours ago

    Donald Trump issues surprising statement after Iran strikes US air base

    The president has issued a statement after Iran fired missiles at US air bases in Qatar and Iraq

    News
  • 10 hours ago

    'Lion whisperer' left fighting for his life after attack from same cat that killed his colleague last year

    Oleg Zubkov, the owner of the park, is said to be in a critical condition in hospital

    News
  • 10 hours ago

    Single mother, 48, diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's disease reveals first symptoms she noticed

    Rebecca Luna has also launched a fundraiser, knowing her condition will worsen

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Shocking reason why Ben Affleck is banned from playing Blackjack at certain casinos

    It all stems back to an incident in 2014

    Film & TV
  • Everything we know about 1,000lb spacecraft set to hit Earth this week as exact time it'll crash revealed
  • Scientists unveil new time on Doomsday Clock that reveals how close we are to ‘the end of civilization’
  • Woman shares terrifying footage of the Great Blue Hole revealing the dangerous reality of diving into it
  • Stephen Hawking had warning about Earth facing ‘disaster’ before he died