Earth’s oxygen levels to drop sharply in future, scientists say
Researchers Kazumi Ozaki from Toho University and Chris Reinhard from the Georgia Institute of Technology predicted that oxygen levels will drop sharply and the atmosphere will become saturated with methane, reminiscent of the ancient Earth before the Great Oxygen Event, the Nature Geoscience journal reports
It is reported that scientists have created a model that takes into account changes in the brightness of the Sun and the decline in carbon dioxide levels. According to their calculations, the growth of solar radiation will accelerate the decomposition of oxygen atoms, which will lead to a reduction in photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen.
The result is a rapid drop in oxygen levels to values that existed on Earth more than 2.4 billion years ago. This will happen even before the Sun vaporises the oceans, which was previously thought to be a major factor in the end of life on the planet.
According to scientists, without oxygen, most living things, including humans, will die. Only anaerobic microorganisms capable of living in an oxygen-free environment will remain.
