An Extreme Drop in Oxygen Will Eventually Suffocate Most Life on Earth – ScienceAlert

🔍 Summary:

Scientists predict that Earth’s atmosphere, currently rich in oxygen, will eventually revert to a methane-rich, low-oxygen state similar to conditions before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.4 billion years ago. This transformation, which could occur in about a billion years, will happen rapidly due to a combination of the sun’s increasing brightness and a decline in atmospheric CO2, which will reduce photosynthesis and consequently oxygen levels. This scenario, detailed in a 2021 study by Kazumi Ozaki from Toho University and Chris Reinhard from the Georgia Institute of Technology, suggests that the oxygen-rich era of Earth will constitute only 20-30% of its total lifespan. The study, part of NASA’s NExSS project, also highlights the need to search for biosignatures other than oxygen when looking for habitable planets outside our solar system. The eventual depletion of oxygen will likely end human and most other life forms that depend on it, paving the way for anaerobic organisms to dominate. This research was published in Nature Geoscience and underscores the impermanence of Earth’s current habitable state.

📌 Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/an-extreme-drop-in-oxygen-will-eventually-suffocate-most-life-on-earth