The existence of an oxygen bottleneck has significant implications for future searches of technological activities on exoplanets.
Astrobiologists theorise that low-oxygen planets would be unlikely to produce advanced civilisations, as the discovery of fire requires easy access to open air combustion, which is only possible when oxygen partial pressure is above 18%.
When the Earth formed around 4.6 billion years ago, its atmosphere consisted mostly of carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and water vapour – with a lack of free oxygen making it totally inhospitable for aerobic life.
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