Earth life-environment interactions explored
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: Over the past 500-plus million years, the interactions between the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and life have created favourable conditions for early organisms.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists has explored this co-evolutionary history in a perspective article published in the National Science Review. The team from Syracuse University, Oxford University, and Stanford University focussed on the Phanerozoic Eon, which began around 540 million years ago.
At that time, high carbon dioxide and low oxygen levels in the atmosphere posed challenges for life.
However, ocean algae played a crucial role in transforming these conditions by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen through photosynthesis.
