Imagine a world without breathable air. That’s the grim future scientists predict—but don’t panic just yet. According to new research, Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere has an expiration date: one billion years from now.
Using advanced simulations, researchers modeled Earth’s atmospheric changes over millennia, accounting for factors like solar radiation and carbon dioxide levels. Their findings suggest that oxygen will vanish much faster than once believed, triggering a “rapid deoxygenation” event. After that, the atmosphere will resemble early Earth—high in methane, low in CO2, and devoid of an ozone layer.
“The Earth will likely become a world of anaerobic life,” said study co-author Kazumi Ozaki, referencing organisms that thrive without oxygen. While previous estimates suggested two billion years before catastrophic changes, this new timeline cuts that in half.
The silver lining? Oxygen’s dominance may only be a brief chapter in Earth’s history, spanning just 20-30% of its existence. So while we’re safe for now, the planet’s long-term fate is already written.
