Surprised Scientists Find Lifeforms Six Miles Above Earth's Surface

Surprised Scientists Find Lifeforms Six Miles Above Earth's Surface

gizmodo.com

For the first time, scientists have found lifeforms where nobody thought it was possible: floating in the troposphere, the slice of the atmosphere approximately four to six miles (eight to 15 kilometers) above Earth's surface. And not just a tiny few, but lot: 20% of every particle in that atmospheric layer are living organisms.

This has profound implications for our understanding of weather, the spread of disease, and life on other planets.

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We did not expect to find so many microorganisms in the troposphere, which is considered a difficult environment for life. There seems to be quite a diversity of species, but not all bacteria make it into the upper troposphere.

The study is published here:

Study Finds Substantial Microorganism Populations in the Upper Troposphere

The study didn't confirm the origin of the lifeforms, whether they lived their entire life cycle in the upper atmosphere or were 'lofted' there, but it did identify they were of either terrestrial or marine origin. I recall an earlier study published this past year that described clouds as 'living', hosting microbial lifeforms as well.

An intriguing study that will impact how we look for life on other planets. Planets lacking an ocean which we may have regarded as unlikely candidates for harboring life may deserve another look.

gizmodo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

There's already a thread about this:

www.abovetopsecret.com...
Bugs in the Atmosphere: Significant Microorganism Populations Found in Middle and Upper Troposphere

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Originally posted by retirednature
There's already a thread about this:

www.abovetopsecret.com...
Bugs in the Atmosphere: Significant Microorganism Populations Found in Middle and Upper Troposphere

Search

Indeed.

Please add to the ongoing.

Thread closed.

~Tenth