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Daria Bedenko. Sputnik International
https://sputniknews.com/science/202103101082298206-new-study-reveals-when-earth-will-run-out-of-oxygen/
Oxygen is an essential element that is widely accepted as a possible indicator of life on exoplanets. However, the oxygen-rich atmosphere of the earth that makes it habitable may not be permanent.
All the oxygen on earth could disappear in the next one billion years, potentially leading to the death of all animals and plants on the planet, according to a new study published in Nature Geoscience.
According to the findings, the life span of the earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere is estimated at one billion years. However, the fundamental time scale of the oxygen in the atmosphere of our planet remains uncertain.
“The life of the Earth’s biosphere has been discussed for years on the basis of scientific knowledge about the gradual brightening of the sun and the global geochemical cycle of carbonate silicate,” said Kazumi Ozaki, an assistant professor at Toho University. said.
The scientists behind the study believe that detoxification is “an inevitable consequence” of increasing solar currents, as the sun ages and emits more heat.
“The atmosphere after the great detoxification is characterized by elevated methane, low CO2 levels and no ozone layer. The Earth system is likely to be a world of anaerobic life forms,” Ozaki said, referring to how beings in need of oxygen to survive will not be able to inhabit the planet.
The findings are based on a model of the evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere built using a stochastic approach, which enables the team to make a probable assessment of the lifetime of our oxygen-like atmosphere.
The model has been performed more than 400,000 times with various parameters to indicate that the oxygen on earth still has only a billion years before solar radiation destroys it.
As the research was conducted as part of NASA’s NexSS program examining the habitability of exoplanets, the team explained that it may be useful for scientists to consider additional bio-signatures applicable to weak oxygen-like and anoxic worlds in the search for life. outside the solar system.