So what do you think about the part, when Jesus said the earth shall be burned up? Do you think the earth will be totally destroyed and gone? I know also thinking, the word of God said all things will be made new.
I believe it's a restoration process. Peter explained it will be purified with fire and that water will not exist afterwards. The real question is for what purpose is the earth being restored and purified?
In the story of Cain and Abel God tells Cain that Abel's blood is crying out from the earth. So we are learning that every wrong deed, action, sinful way the earth is inheriting and testifies like a report to God.
So after 6,000+ years of this constant condition being done by imaginatively the possible 20 billion people to ever live and then include the actions by Satan and his band of fallen angels + the demons we have an earth severely polluted with sin.
I believe the severity of sin evidence within and throughout the planet earth makes our planet appear as old as Science believes it to be. If sin causes humans to die by the very nature of sin just imagine what the planet is suffering of from everything created and sins is doing to it through inheritance. We are made from the dust of earth and return to earth just as our sins.
So this fire spoken by Peter is purifying earth. It's not really a new earth but restored back to it's original state of creation.