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Early Earth

Faint young Sun redux

Given that the Sun was dimmer in its youth, our planet should have been frozen over for much of its early history. That it evidently wasn't is a puzzle that continues to engage the attention of Earth scientists.

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Figure 1: Possible variation in atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) during Earth's history.

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Kasting, J. Faint young Sun redux. Nature 464, 687–689 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/464687a

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