A billion years from now, Earth may run out of oxygen, says study

In a new study, researchers have predicted that there’ll be no more oxygen left on Earth in billion years from now. But, how will it happen?

Countries have time and again batted for an eco-friendly environment to make sure more greenery and fewer pollution within the atmosphere. This, not only helps sustain biodiversity, but also helps humans live a healthier life. But what is going to happen if the universe itself conspires to kill life on Earth in coming years? and Earth may run out of oxygen in coming year

A recent study reveals that a billion years from now, the earth’s atmosphere will contain little or no oxygen, making the blue planet uninhabitable.

The research was conducted by Kazumi Ozaki of the University of Tokyo and Chris Reinhard of Georgia Tech. They modelled Earth’s climatic and Earth may run out of oxygen , biological and geological systems to predict future atmospheric conditions on Earth. The findings were published in peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience on March 1 this year.

According to the study, it could take 10,000 years for oxygen levels to drop to a millionth of what it’s now, a report said.

“The drop by oxygen is extremely , very extreme — we’re talking around 1,000,000 times less oxygen than there’s today,” a study author was quoted as saying.

“We find that the mean future lifespan of Earth’s atmosphere, with oxygen levels quite 1 per cent of this atmospheric level, is 1.08?±?0.14 billion years (1s),” the study quoted researchers as saying.

HOW WILL IT HAPPEN?
The study predicts that during a billion years, because the system continues its life cycle, the Sun will heat up such a lot in order that the hotter atmosphere will break down CO2 .

The levels of CO2 will become so low that plants, which release oxygen through the method of photosynthesis, are going to be unable to survive — ultimately lowering oxygen levels.

During photosynthesis, plants absorb CO2 from the environment, process it though respiration and release oxygen for living organism to inhale .
So, when plants would die from the shortage of CO2 , not only there’ll be a loss within the organic phenomenon but, crucially, a loss within the air they produce and therefore the air we breathe.

Methane levels also will begin to rise, reaching 10,000 times the extent seen today, another report said.

OXYGEN UTOPIA a short lived CONDITION
According to researchers, this “oxygen utopia”, when plants release oxygen for humans and animals to breathe, is merely a short lived condition on Earth. “We find that the Earth’s oxygenated atmosphere won’t be a permanent feature,” Ozaki was quoted as saying.

Ozaki and Reinhard said oxygen is a crucial biomarker, but it’s going to not be a permanent feature of planets with life. This eventually “could change how we categorise exoplanets going forward – even without oxygen, there might be many single-celled life,” the report quoted then saying.

According to a report, Earth’s present atmosphere is formed from 78 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen, 0.9 per cent argon, and 0.1 per cent other gases, including CO2 , methane, water vapor and neon.