What Would Really Happen If Thanos Erased Half of Life on Earth?

We are just hours away from the release of Endgame, and as expected, millions of fans are rushing to catch up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe or review forgotten details. However, Thanos's snap is burned into our minds. The Titan supposedly won by erasing half of all life in the universe, but how effective was his solution? According to several experts in paleontology, biology, ecology, evolution, and animal behavior, all the despot will accomplish is ending up very disappointed…

A quick recap: Thanos places the last stone in the gauntlet, Thor throws the axe, the Asgardian starts talking (!), Thanos finds time to mock Thor's aim even with Stormbreaker in his chest (!!), and snap... half the universe turns to dust.

The Titan got his way, and in the end he 'saw the sunrise on a grateful universe', but we all know his peace won't last long. Now, there's a fundamental problem we need to explore. Those responsible for the story (with Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, at the helm) confirmed that Thanos's snap wasn't limited to 'intelligent life,' but eliminated 50 percent of all life, including plants and bacteria. So, what would happen if Thanos actually did something like that on Earth today? First of all, he would be condemning himself to repeat the process over and over.

Starting from an elementary mathematical basis, the growth of the human species is exponential. In 200 years the population multiplied by 7, while it took just four decades (1960-2000) to double from 3 billion to 6 billion. According to Ken Lacovara, a paleontologist at Rowan University, that growth extends to many other species, so Thanos's anti-Malthusian strategy is deficient, although that wouldn't avoid planet-wide effects. Janet Hoole, an expert in animal behavior and human evolution at Keele University, explains that such a purge would cause a loss of balance in some species, depending on their survival techniques. Those with an abundance of young and that don't spend a long time as 'parents' will be able to outlast those species with fewer offspring.

Examples? Insects, kangaroos, rats, and rabbits. Ecologist James Faulconbridge mentions that one type of frog can produce 20,000 eggs in a single season, and even if a large portion are eaten, they could restore the entire population in less than a year. Lacovara adds the mosquito fact: Thanos's snap would be insignificant to them, returning to previous levels in just one summer. On the other hand, other species would be doomed to extinction. Tigers, Javan rhinoceroses, the Hainan gibbon, and many more would suffer a lethal blow due to the loss of viable mates and genetic diversity. At a lower level, microbiologist Ben Libberton indicates that such a deep cut could disrupt the balance of gut flora, allowing the growth of bacteria that were previously repressed by natural competition. Even more serious is the situation of microbes that are part of nutrient cycles and nitrogen fixation in soil and the ocean.

That said, the experts agree that Thanos's snap on Earth is nothing compared to the mass extinction events that affected the planet in the past. The so-called 'Permian-Triassic extinction', also known as the Great Dying, wiped out 96 percent of marine life and 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrates, but here we are. The current biodiversity crisis, climate change, and pollution carry a much broader destructive potential than Thanos and his snap, and to be honest, wiping out half of humanity could help some endangered species.

In short... no. Purging half the universe was not a good idea. Worse, in the process Thanos eliminated a large part of those resources he sought to free for the survivors. A more logical approach would have been to block exponential growth and 'program' an imbalance between birth and death rates, favoring the latter. In other words, put life into deficit until reaching a certain universal level, and automatically reactivate that deficit whenever necessary. A much more subtle solution... almost natural.

Source: Earther