A new theory has been put forward about Mars, which is one of the structures thought to be suitable for life in the Solar System. In their article published in the journal Nature, scientists suggested that ancient microbial life on Mars caused climate change.
The scientists fabricated their theory through a model that simulated microbes that lived on Mars 3.7 billion years ago, consuming hydrogen and producing methane. At that time, the atmospheric conditions of Mars were the same as the Earth of that day.
But Martian microbes took a different path from Earth microbes:
Ancient microbial life on Earth played a huge role in preparing the conditions for today’s creatures. Microbes have created an environment to help them thrive. But according to the simulation, the situation was different for microbes on Mars: They prepared their own end at the beginning of the road.
According to the model, this is due to the gas composition of the two planets and their distance from the Sun. Farther from the Sun than Earth, Mars relied on heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen to maintain temperatures suitable for life.
Ancient microbes on Mars also consumed hydrogen, a powerful greenhouse gas, and produced methane. So the microbes gradually consumed the layer that served as the planet’s heat-trapping blanket. Eventually, Mars became so cold that advanced life forms could not form.
As the Martian surface temperature dropped from the tolerable 10 to 20 degrees Celsius to -57 degrees, microbes began escaping deeper into the planet. So much so that within hundreds of millions of years, microbes had descended to 1 kilometer below the surface of the planet.
The new theory of scientists is currently unproven. NASA’s Curiosity spacecraft has previously found traces that could be proof that microbes still exist on Mars. However, traces of methane gas have also been found by satellites in the Martian atmosphere. To prove the theory, it is necessary to find out whether any of these ancient microbes survived.
Fossils or living specimens of ancient microbes can be found in the low-mid latitude plains of Mars, according to scientists.
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