earth
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
December 11, 2023 Â·  2 min read

Most Life On Earth Will Be Wiped Out In A Billion Years, Scientists Predict

According to some scientists, life on Earth has an expiry date set at one billion years from now. This is all because of the oxygen – or future lack thereof – in our atmosphere.

Life On Earth Will End In One Billion Years

In a study published on March 1, 2021, scientists Kazumi Ozaki of Japan and Christopher Reinhard from the United States modeled how Earth’s atmosphere will change over time. Due to an increased energy flow from the sun, which is getting stronger, temperatures will rise, photosynthesis will reduce, and Earth’s oxygen levels will drop. This will effectively end life on Earth. (1)

One billion years from now, oxygen levels will be so low that the Earth will return to the methane-rich conditions. Conditions not seen since its infancy before intelligent life. (1)

Read: World’s First Skyscraper Designed to Hand Suspended From An Asteroid

The Earth Will Return To Its Original State

More than 2.4 billion years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was rich in methane, ammonia, water vapor, and neon. At this time, the planet was largely populated by anaerobic (non-oxygen loving) bacteria. Then, a phenomenon known as The Great Oxygen Event occurred. (2)

Ocean bacteria called cyanobacteria began producing massive amounts of oxygen through photosynthesis. All of this extra oxygen created incredible changes to the Earth’s atmosphere, and therefore to the types of organisms living on it. (2)

This is also referred to as the first mass extinction because of the number of anaerobic bacteria that went extinct. While they were disappearing, multicellular organisms began developing. Eventually (over the course of millions of years), the early humans came to be. (2)

Ozaki and Reinhard’s modeling suggest that this early Earth of single-celled organisms is what our planet will eventually go back to. (1)

Spurs The Search For Extraterrestrial Life

Many say that this is why there needs to be continued effort to search for other potentially inhabitable planets and extraterrestrial life. The idea is to find a new place for humans to live before we run out of life-providing oxygen on our own planet. (1)

The researchers say that we should also consider planets that will become so in the future (Mars?). If Earth’s atmosphere cycles this way, then likely other planets do as well. (1)

While this apparent inevitable end of life on Earth is many, many, many years away, it can’t hurt to start planning for that future long before it happens.

Keep Reading: FM radio signal found coming from Jupiter moon

Sources

  1. The future lifespan of Earth’s oxygenated atmosphere.” Nature. Kazumi Ozaki & Christopher T. Reinhard. March 1, 2021.
  2. The Great Oxidation Event expanded the genetic repertoire of arsenic metabolism and cycling.” PNas. Song-Can Chen, et al. April 29, 2020.