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A study by the University of Southampton gives a new perspective on why our planet has managed to stay habitable for billions of years - concluding it is almost certainly due, at least in part, to luck. The research suggests this may lengthen the odds of finding life on so-called twin-Earths in the Universe.
The research, published in the Nature journal
Communications Earth & Environment, involved conducting the first ever simulation of climate evolution on thousands of randomly generated planets.
Geological data demonstrate that Earth s climate has remained continuously habitable for more than three billion years. However, it has been precariously balanced, with the potential to rapidly deteriorate to deep-frozen or intolerably hot conditions causing planet-wide sterility.