A switch from predominantly undersea volcanoes to a mix of undersea and terrestrial ones shifted the Earth’s atmosphere from devoid of oxygen to one with free oxygen, according to geologists. “The ...

Imagine for a moment the atmosphere is a kitchen sink. Wildfires, industry emissions, plants and microbes dump their grimy dishes into it in the form of noxious and planet-heating gases. The only ...

Planet Earth has some pretty great qualities going for it. (Negative reviews mostly revolve around the staff and clientele.) Pretty high on the list of positives is a richly oxygenated atmosphere. But ...

Cyanobacteria, as they still exist today, were the first organisms to carry out photosynthesis and release oxygen. Produced in primeval oceans about 2.5 billion years ago, this oxygen accumulated in ...

The oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is key to making ours the only planet known to harbor life, but this precious resource is in limited supply. Although it is the best-known component of the air we ...

Astronomers have detected over 5,800 confirmed exoplanets. One extreme class is ultra-hot Jupiters, of particular interest because they can provide a unique window into planetary atmospheric dynamics.

Astronomers have peered through the atmosphere of a planet beyond the Solar System, mapping its 3D structure for the first time. By combining all four telescope units of the European Southern ...

Years before plants covered continents or animals roamed the surface of the planet, Earth’s atmosphere was almost entirely ...