2024-09-19 16:14:23
Earth is the third planet closest to the Sun and the fifth largest in the solar system. It has been inhabited by living beings for millions of years, thanks to the fact that it has liquid water and a chemical composition suitable for the growth of organisms. However, in recent years, some of the characteristics that guarantee the sustenance of life have been altered as a consequence of climate change, NASA warns.
Like the rest of its companions, it was formed when gravity brought dust and gases together. This is how it appeared behind Venus and Mercury, heading towards the Sun. But how long ago did this happen? Find out below the approximate age of the celestial body we inhabit and when it first registered life.
How old is planet Earth?
According to information from NASA, the Tierra It is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Initially, both the Earth and the rest of the solar system were unrecognizable, since they existed as a large cloud of dust and gas, according to the Big Bang theory,
However, a disturbance in this cloud triggered the appearance of new worlds and the space that we living beings inhabit today was formed. Then, as time passed, this point of the universe diversified into four layers.
Earth is the third closest planet to the Sun, behind Mercury and Venus. Photo: NASA
At its centre is the core, which is composed of nickel and iron and has the shape of a solid sphere. This area is surrounded by an outer core. Above this space is the mantle: a layer of molten rock. On top of it lies the crust, which is the outer part that is divided into two zones: continental and oceanic.
When did life appear on Earth?
According to the US government’s space agency, life on Earth appeared at least 3.8 billion years ago. The oceans provided a suitable place for the synthesis of the first organic molecules. These, in turn, began to gradually organise themselves until more complex ones appeared.
Life appeared on Earth 3.8 billion years ago, according to NASA. Photo: MIT
Subsequently, new systems emerged that brought together three key features: a basic metabolism, a compartment and a molecule that recorded their genetic characteristics. With all this, they could reproduce themselves and stay alive. Thanks to this and the process of evolution by natural selection, the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) was born, which was the main ancestor of the living organisms that exist on Earth today, as explained to La Vanguardia by the doctor in Chemical Sciences Carlos Briones.