PULAKRANJAN Chakraborty
The oxygen reserves of Earth are gradually decreasing. In the coming days, there may be no oxygen left to breathe. If the atmosphere becomes devoid of oxygen, it will lead to a severe crisis for the existence of life. This terrifying warning for human civilization has been given by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States.
Researchers from NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science and Japan’s Toho University have recently reported that Earth’s oxygen is rapidly running out and the stored reserves are declining. Around one billion years from now, the Earth’s atmosphere may become completely oxygen-free, and the ozone layer may collapse. In that oxygenless world, not only humans but no animal or plant will be able to survive. Only a few microorganisms that can live without oxygen will remain. The breaking of the ozone layer will also allow ultraviolet rays from the Sun to directly reach the Earth, making it impossible for life to develop here again.
In a joint study by Kazumi Ozaki of Toho University and Christopher Reinhard of Georgia Tech, it has been claimed that our Sun, the main star of the solar system formed about 4.57 billion years ago, has now become so hot due to nuclear fusion that it has started breaking down the carbon dioxide molecules in Earth’s atmosphere. The Sun has already completed nearly half of its life cycle. During this phase, its core has become increasingly hotter. The Sun’s position and rise in temperature play a vital role in maintaining the conditions necessary for life on Earth. Scientists predict that the Sun’s heat will continue to increase in the future.
NASA has stated that the Sun, the center of our solar system, remained calm and weak for about 20 years. But in 2008, an astonishing change occurred in its nature. Scientists have been trying to find the reason behind this change. A recent study has shown that since 2008, the speed, density, magnetic field strength, and temperature of the solar wind, a stream of charged particles from the Sun, have all been increasing continuously.
Scientists have said that the Sun’s temperature is rising at a rate of about six percent per year. Although this may not seem like much now, in the future its impact will be significant, as it will play an important role in breaking down carbon dioxide molecules. Once carbon dioxide molecules are broken, the process of photosynthesis in green plants will stop, as carbon dioxide is one of its essential components. Without photosynthesis, no oxygen will be produced, and without oxygen, the extinction of Earth’s living creatures will just be a matter of time.
Alongside the depletion of oxygen, scientists predict that the amount of methane gas in Earth’s atmosphere will begin to increase, which will make the atmosphere toxic. This event poses a great threat to human civilization. Not just humans, no animals or plants will survive in an oxygen-free world. The water on Earth’s surface will dry up, turning the planet into a gray desert.
Scientists have further stated that this event will not happen suddenly like an explosion exactly one billion years from now. It is a long-term process and could start gradually even sooner. Jamie Jasinski, the lead research author at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, “The Sun is slowly waking up. And as it awakens, its heat is increasing.”
Due to this process, many species will gradually become extinct, and one day our planet will turn into a dry and dead world. The Earth has already spent almost three-quarters of the time during which it could support life.
If the oxygen shortage is not replenished, the entire animal world will disappear from the face of the Earth. Only green forests can help fill this deficit. Hence, reforestation, expansion of forests, and protecting the ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbons and halons have now become extremely urgent. Scientists are also searching for a path to survival.