Earth’s Moon may be the reason we’re all here today

[Mike Wehner]

• A new study suggests that Earth's Moon may have been vital to the protection of Earth's atmosphere early on in its development.
• A sort of "lunar shield" may have protected the atmosphere long from the Sun, giving life on Earth the opportunity to take root.
• Missions to the Moon in the coming years could prove this theory correct.

Thanks to the incredible work of scientists around the world, we know a lot about how life took root here on Earth. We know that a combination of water, heat, and maybe even impacts from extraterrestrial objects likely played a role in taking the building block of life and turning them into something more. However, a new study suggests that the Moon may have played a pivotal role in maintaining Earth's habitability in those very early days.

Earth wasn't always habitable, of course. It started out as a volatile rock with very little in terms of life-supporting resources. The Sun's intense radiation may have threatened to degrade Earth's atmosphere to a point that life could never catch on, but the Moon, as it turns out, may have helped a lot.

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Earth’s Moon may be the reason we’re all here today originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2020 at 21:08:41 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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