Earliest Life on Mars Could Have Self-Destructed in a Climate Catastrophe

Climate change may have led to the extinction of ancient life on Mars.

The theory is based on a climate modeling study that shows how long ago Mars was inhabited by hydrogen- and methane-Producing Microbes. The atmosphere was similar to that on ancient Earth.

Instead of creating an environment that would help them thrive and evolve, as happened on Earth, Martian microbes may have doomed themselves just as they were getting started, according to a study published in October.

The gas compositions of the two planets and their relative distances from the Sun are thought to be the reasons life flourished on Earth and was doomed on Mars. Mars relied on a potent fog of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen, to keep it warm.

As ancient Martians ate hydrogen and produced methane, they slowly ate into the planet's heat-trapping blanket, eventually making it so cold that it could no longer evolve complex life.

Evidence of past life on Mars may have been wiped out.

As the planet's surface temperature dropped from a comfortable range of 10 to 20 degrees Celsius to a frigid minus 70 F, the microbes fled deeper and deeper into the planet's warmer surface.

The researchers want to find out if any of the ancient microbes are still alive. Satellites have detected methane in the atmosphere of Mars, as well as alien burps, which could be evidence that the microbes are still alive.

According to the scientists, life may not be innately self sustaining in every environment it pops up in, and that it can easily wipe itself out by accidentally destroying the foundations for its own existence.

Boris Sauterey is an astronomer at theInstitut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.

It is1-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-6556 The inability of life to live on the surface of the planet causes it to go extinct very quickly. Our experiment shows that even a very primitive biosphere can cause self-destructive effects.

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The original article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.