Earth history, as a scientific topic, encompasses the reconstruction and analysis of the planet’s physical, chemical, and biological evolution from its formation ~4.54 billion years ago to the present. It integrates evidence from stratigraphy, geochronology, paleontology, geochemistry, and tectonics to delineate major intervals (eons, eras, periods, epochs) and events, such as crust formation, supercontinent cycles, ocean–atmosphere evolution, biotic radiations, and mass extinctions. Research in earth history focuses on quantifying rates and magnitudes of processes (e.g., plate motions, climate shifts, biogeochemical cycles) and constraining cause–effect relationships that link Earth’s interior, surface environments, and biosphere through deep time.
Earth was mostly devoid of oxygen for much of its 4.5 billion year lifetime. That is, until certain processes started to allow for the eventual buildup of oxygen up to the levels we have now (around 21% of the atmosphere). ...
Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a new method which could help scientists perform large-scale climate simulations at a fraction of the cost and time needed compared to traditional climate models. The ...
Earth Sciences
May 13, 2026
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Earth's earliest continents may have set the chemical stage for life by regulating boron levels in ancient oceans, a new study in Terra Nova suggests.
Astrobiology
May 6, 2026
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A solar storm like the one that caused a nine-hour blackout across Quebec in 1989 could have even more dramatic effects if it struck the eastern United States today. Now, scientists have developed new tools to detect these ...
Earth Sciences
May 4, 2026
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An international team of Earth scientists led by Utrecht professor Douwe van Hinsbergen has developed an online tool that allows you to see, for any given location on Earth, what latitude it occupied in the distant past, ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 29, 2026
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NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have captured two 360-degree landscapes that highlight how the missions are revealing details of the Red Planet's formation, watery past, and potential for life. Located 2,345 miles ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 28, 2026
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Earth and the course of life on Earth have been shaped by impacts. Scientists have uncovered links between massive impacts and changes in climate that altered the planet forever. But the further scientists look into the past ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 15, 2026
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Geoscientists have long relied on different forms of lead to understand Earth's geological history and how it was created over billions of years. However, there is a mystery that has been puzzling scientists for decades: ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 10, 2026
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Meteor impacts may have helped spark life on Earth, creating hot, chemical-rich environments where the first living cells could take shape, according to research integrated by a recent Rutgers University graduate. Shea Cinquemani, ...
Astrobiology
Mar 31, 2026
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Cycles in the growth and decay of Antarctica's ice sheets once shaped marine biological productivity thousands of miles away in the subtropical ocean, according to new research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 24, 2026
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