Earth's atmosphere, which today is rich in oxygen and allows life, could change within a billion years, with a predominance of methane and low levels of oxygen, reminiscent of what the planet was like in its beginnings, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience.
The research, led by Japan's Toho University and the US space agency NASA, suggests that atmospheric oxygen is not permanent on habitable worlds, which has implications for the search for life on other Earth-like planets.
Earth's atmosphere, which today is rich in oxygen and allows life, will change to make way for methane, what the planet was like in its beginnings. Don't worry, it's a long way off.
One indicator of possible planetary life is a detectable, oxygen-rich atmosphere, like the one Earth now has, suggesting the existence of plants and photosynthesis.
However, the lifetime of these oxygen-based biosignals from Earth's atmosphere is uncertain, especially in the distant future.
The team modeled Earth's systems, including climate, biological and geological processes, to examine the timescale of current atmospheric conditions on our planet.
One indicator of possible planetary life is a detectable, oxygen-rich atmosphere, like the one Earth now has, suggesting the existence of plants and photosynthesis.
Another billion years
The result was that an oxygen-rich atmosphere "will likely persist for another billion years," before rapid deoxygenation makes it reminiscent of Earth's before the Great Oxidation Event.
Earth's original atmosphere contained very little oxygen, but that began to change about 2.500 billion years ago when levels rose during the Great Oxidation, which marked a milestone in the planet's history, allowing the development of biological forms over millions of years.
Earth's atmosphere, which today is rich in oxygen and allows life, could change within a billion years, with a predominance of methane and low oxygen levels.
The authors suggest that the detection of atmospheric oxygen on Earth could be possible only during 20 or 30% of the life of the planet and consider that future deoxygenation will be "an inevitable consequence of the increase" of solar fluxes.
If the same happens on other planets, the study indicates, then additional biosignatures are needed in the search for extraterrestrial life.
EFE Agency.
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