Earth without oxygen? A study reveals when it could happen.

A recent study warns that atmospheric oxygen, essential for life as we know it, could suddenly disappear within approximately one billion years, as a result of natural processes linked to the evolution of the Sun and Earth.

The research was conducted by a team at Toho University in Japan and published in the journal Nature Geoscience . The work, funded by NASA's Nexus for Exoplanet System Science program, used more than 400,000 simulations to analyze possible scenarios for the planet's atmospheric future .

According to the results, the gradual increase in solar radiation will lead to an intensification of carbonate and silicate weathering processes, which in turn will raise carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere . This concentration of CO₂ will directly affect plants, the main producers of oxygen, leading to their extinction.

With the disappearance of vegetation , oxygen would be depleted, generating an environment similar to that of primitive Earth , before the so-called Great Oxidation Event, which occurred about 2.4 billion years ago, when oxygen was just beginning to accumulate on the planet.

Although this process would mean the end of many complex life forms, researchers clarify that there are organisms that do not depend on oxygen, so certain life forms could continue to exist under different chemical conditions.

The research highlights that the main factor behind the loss of oxygen is the sun's evolutionary behavior. As the sun ages, its luminosity increases, causing a progressive warming of the Earth's atmosphere.

This warming reduces the solubility of oxygen in the oceans and alters the biogeochemical cycles that produce and consume oxygen, accelerating its disappearance.

Although the disappearance of oxygen is an event that will occur in the extremely distant future, scientists caution that this study underscores the importance of understanding the long-term processes that affect Earth's habitability.

The findings, cited by journalists such as Marisol Pérez and Matías Zavia , open new perspectives not only on the future of the Earth, but also on the search for life on exoplanets, considering atmospheres with little or no oxygen.