Atmosphere of Earth development of animals. Today's atmosphere contains 21% oxygen, which is great enough for this rapid development of animals. "Air pollution" is the introduction into the atmosphere of chemicals, particulate matter or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to organisms. Stratospheric ozone depletion is caused by air pollution, chiefly from chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances. The scientific consensus is that the anthropogenic greenhouse gases currently accumulating in the atmosphere are the main cause of global warming. On October 19, 2015 NASA started a website containing daily images of the full sunlit side of Earth on http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/. The images are taken
Future of Earth release of carbon dioxide by volcanic eruption could cause the atmosphere to enter a "super-greenhouse" state like that of the planet Venus. But, as stated above, without surface water, plate tectonics would probably come to a halt and most of the carbonates would remain securely buried until the Sun becomes a red giant and its increased luminosity heated the rock to the point of releasing the carbon dioxide. The loss of the oceans could be delayed until 2 billion years in the future if the atmospheric pressure were to decline. A lower atmospheric pressure would reduce the greenhouse effect, thereby