As I did in my last two posts today I would like to play a little with the imagination and theorize a bit with what would happen if suddenly the gravity on the earth increased. Let establish for a moment that gravity as we know it does not have the same value but instead, it is doubled.
As we know gravity is one of the phenomena that govern the universe as we know it, in fact, thanks to the gravity its being possible established many constants and parameters that act on the earth, as for example thanks to the suns gravity the earth established its orbit around the yellow giant.
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Gravity is such an important phenomenon that is present in all parts of the universe, of course not everywhere it acts in the same way, and as I explained in an older post no matter how far we are from an object in the universe; Gravity will always be present. Gravity is something omnipotent that does not matter where, when or who we are with, even though we can not feel them will always be present.
Gravity, or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass are brought to (or gravitate towards) one another, including objects ranging from electrons and atoms to planets, stars, and galaxies.
Wikipedia
Some changes
Assuming for a moment that the value of gravity suddenly doubled, the first thing that would change would be the constants and values that science has been able to establish based on the current value of gravity on earth.
Following the fact that many of the physical constants currently established would also change everything around us, and that if with a gravity value of approximately 9.8 m/s2 an object weighs say 50 kg, with a gravity the double of high that same object would weigh now 100kg what would suppose an extremely big change. Just think how it would be that both we and the rest of things around us suddenly doubled their weight, no doubt hundreds of problems would arise.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable changes that the earth would have, is that an increase in gravity would cause an immense decrease in the processes of rain formation as a result of the low evaporation of water because, with such a remarkable increase in gravity, the Earth's atmosphere would also be modified so that it no longer generates sufficient pressure and temperature to generate such constant rainfall.
In short, the atmosphere would change his size due to the increase in gravity and, at the same time, it would no longer be able to hold and cause enough water evaporation to generate rain.
Continuing with what I was saying a few paragraphs ago, the change that we would feel most quickly is that our weight and that of all objects around us would double their weight, and this although in a certain way it may seem simple and unimportant is not. Just think for a second how it would be to move from weighing 70 kg to weighing 140 kg in an instant; It would be something extremely difficult to face since we would have to make an effort that until now we have not done to move and perform tasks that once seemed simple.
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Our body would be forced to perform an almost superhuman work in order to stay alive, also with a gravity increased, we would be pushed twice as strong towards the center of the earth which would result in our anatomy changing making us smaller.
Another fateful fact that would bring an increase in gravity is that by modifying the load that our bodies would have to take, some of our organs would be forced to work at a rate never before known which would cause them to fail faster and progressively would cause a greater number of degenerative diseases as a result of the immense increase in the workload of our bodies. Of course, eventually one of us would adapt and "evolve" to a point where a gravity twice as strong would be nothing, but how many would perish along the way?
Maybe not everything is bad news?
Having clarified that the change that we would feel faster would be the increase in our weight and the work that our body would have to do, what would happen as a result of that fact for many will be good news and is that even when our weight doubled our anatomy will be the same, it is not that we will get fat or something like that. This is a certain way can be considered good news (Yes, of course) for some people and it is basically like loading 24h with a weight-bearing equipment that will allow those athletes and fitness enthusiasts to do the work that They performed in the gym more often anywhere.
In addition, we would no longer have to submit to such exhaustive diets because our body will inertly do all the work of burning food more quickly by having to work more. Basically, our daily life will be transformed into what are 2-3 hours of exhaustive gym for any athlete.
Eventually, we would have to eat more, is true but it is also true that our body will work like a giant incinerator that burns everything that is placed inside it almost instantaneously.
Conclusion
If someday for some unknown reason the gravity will suddenly affect us twice as hard as it currently does, at the beginning the problems would not stop and latent chaos would be generated in humanity, the physical constants would change, we would weigh twice, the frequency in the that precipitations form would fall, our bodies would be under a regime of extreme work in order to survive. Finally a number of problems, and that without talking about what animals would have to face or how would you explain to an elephant that suddenly weighs twice and that very surely cannot able to move, or an eagle that now flying will be extremely complicated.
However, sooner or later we would be at the mercy of ourselves, that is to say, survival depends on us or not. And we would quickly have to embark on the long journey of evolution if we really do not want to die because of the effects of the gravity increased.
Eventually, human beings would change and adapt, we will not be as tall or as athletic as we are (or at least the first generations will not be) but at one point everything will be as if nothing had changed. Our anatomy will change, the physical constants would be reformulated again, but in the end, humanity would survive.