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Understanding planetary habitability is partly an extrapolation of the conditions on Earth, as this is the only planet known to support life.. Planetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to develop and maintain an environment hospitable to life. [1]
Earth is the only known place that has ever been habitable for life. Earth's life developed in Earth's early bodies of water some hundred million years after Earth formed. Earth's life has been shaping and inhabiting many particular ecosystems on Earth and has eventually expanded globally forming an overarching biosphere. [242]
Beyond the Solar System, the region around another main-sequence star that could support Earth-like life on an Earth-like planet is known as the habitable zone. The inner and outer radii of this zone vary with the luminosity of the star, as does the time interval during which the zone survives.
Evidence suggests that life on Earth has existed for about 3.7 billion years. [30] All known life forms share fundamental molecular mechanisms, and based on these observations, theories on the origin of life attempt to find a mechanism explaining the formation of a primordial single cell organism from which all life originates.
A new study suggests that cloud-to-ground lightning likely provided the necessary material for the first organisms on Earth to form. All Life on Earth Might Have Started From Lightning, Scientists Say
All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last Universal Common Ancestor, or LUCA. A new study suggests that this organism likely lived on Earth only 400 million years after its formation.
Human composting is emerging as an end-of-life alternative that is friendlier to the climate and the Earth — it is far less carbon-intensive than cremation and doesn’t use chemicals involved ...
The carbon cycle is a biogeochemical cycle that is important in maintaining life on Earth over a long time span. The cycle includes carbon sequestration and carbon sinks. [4] [5] Plate tectonics are needed for life over a long time span, and carbon-based life is important in the plate tectonics process. [6]