RE: THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE UNIVERSE - The Evolution of Life (Part 5)
connecting this:
cyanobacteria populated the earth, living on land and in water, are the first known to produce oxygen as a waste product through the process of photosynthesis.
and this:
As oxygen kept increasing in the atmosphere, it disrupted the first stable atmosphere. The free oxygen that was released, being poisonous for obligate anaerobic organisms, led to the rise of the GOE which led to the destruction of a lot of organisms. Cyanobacteria were responsible for the most significant mass extinction in the earth's history
It's interesting how that life started with anaerobic microorganisms and then evolved to these Cyanobacteria which by photosynthesis (a creative process, nonetheless) brought about the demise of a lot of the earlier ones. What's next for earth in the next billion years? Chlorine-breathing trees and Elephants?
Good read man.
By that point, I am certain all life forms on the Earth will be extinct. The most probable fate of this planet is absorption by the Sun in about 6 - 7 billion years after the Sun has entered the red giant phase and expanded beyond the planet's current orbit. After consuming Mercury and Venus, and its last stop with be our little bluish-green planet. Mars will survive though, but the planet will spin out of orbit, due to the absence of the Sun's gravity.
What a time to be alive then.
Absolutely!