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Planetary science

The history of air

Giant impacts on Earth destroyed the envelope of gases surrounding the fledgling planet — so how has the modern-day planet regained its atmosphere? The answer, it seems, is that all was not lost.

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Correspondence to H. J. Melosh.

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Melosh, H. The history of air. Nature 424, 22–23 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424022a

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