Earth’s days once got more than two hours longer, thanks to the moon drifting thousands of miles farther away in its orbit over two periods, researchers have discovered.
The extra hours of sunlight, in turn, may have led to oxygenation events that ushered in a period when life’s complexity exploded, the study researchers say.
“Daylength changes may influence the distribution of solar energy and temperature gradients, potentially impacting weather systems and atmospheric dynamics,” the researchers wrote in the new study, published Aug. 6 in the journal PNAS.
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