The world is closing to annihilation as Earth will not be able to support and sustain life forever. Not a mere doomsday prediction, but real concern has been shown by researchers in their recent findings. As the ageing sun grows hotter, oceans on Earth will evaporate, and the atmosphere will escape into space. Scientists have found evidence that Earth will lose its oxygen-rich atmosphere in approximately one billion years. Yes, you read that, right! The Earth, formed approximately about 4.6 billion years ago, will lose its plant life, and without plant life, oxygen levels will also drop, causing a mass extinction event among animals.

Today, oxygen makes up around 21 percent of Earth’s atmosphere. Its oxygen-rich nature is ideal for large and complex organisms, like humans, that require gas to survive. However, early in the Earth’s history, oxygen levels were much lower, and they are likely to be low again in the coming future. Researches from Toho University and NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science has found evidence via simulation. In the paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Kazumi Ozaki and Christopher Reinhard described the factors that went into their simulation and what it showed. Organic Materials Essential for Life on Earth Discovered for the First Time Ever on Surface of Space Rock. 

They found that Earth’s oxygenated atmosphere will not be a permanent feature. The planet’s atmosphere will maintain high levels of oxygen for the next billion years before dramatically returning to low levels reminiscent of those that existed about 2.4 billion years ago. The main reason for the shift is as our Sun ages; it will become hotter and release more energy. According to researchers, this will lead to a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as it absorbs heat and then breaks down. NASA Names Perseverance Mars Rover Touchdown Site as 'Octavia E. Butler Landing' After The Science Fiction Author. 

Scientists Ozaki and Reinhard estimate that in a billion years, carbon dioxide levels will become so low that photosynthesising organisms such as plants, will be unable to survive and produce oxygen, which will lead to a huge reduction in oxygen. The drop in oxygen is very extreme. It will be around a million times less oxygen than there is today.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 08, 2021 02:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).