Breathe in that sweet oxygen while you can—because Earth’s atmosphere is set to hit the reset button in about a billion years.
And spoiler alert: it’s not good news for us oxygen-loving creatures.
Scientists say we’re heading back to a stinky, methane-filled vibe, more like the planet’s early days before the Great Oxidation Event.
The incident turned Earth into the breathable paradise we know today.
Who is To Blame?
Why the sudden downgrade? Blame the Sun.
It’s getting brighter and hotter, slowly draining carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Less CO2 means fewer plants, which means—yep—less oxygen.
According to research published in 2021, the change will happen rapidly.
Kazumi Ozaki from Toho University sums it up: Earth’s biosphere is basically on a countdown clock.
Chris Reinhard from Georgia Tech doesn’t sugarcoat it either.
When the shift hits, oxygen levels could plummet to “a million times less than today.”
That’s not just holding your breath—that’s game over for complex life.
