--- title: Life May Have Thrived 3.2 Billion Years Ago, Study Says description: Scientists have found evidence that life on earth may have blossomed 3.2 billion years ago, instead of the previous idea of 2 billion years canonical: https://time.com/3711556/environment-earth-nitrogen-study-science/ author: Kevin McSpadden article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-17T06:46:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:36.565Z article:section: Science og:title: Life May Have Thrived on Earth 3.2Bn Years Ago og:description: Scientists had previously thought the earliest ecosystems were clinging onto an essentially uninhabitable planet. og:url: https://time.com/3711556/environment-earth-nitrogen-study-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Life May Have Thrived on Earth 3.2Bn Years Ago twitter:description: Scientists had previously thought the earliest ecosystems were clinging onto an essentially uninhabitable planet. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Life May Have Thrived on Earth 3.2 Billion Years Ago, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Kevin McSpadden](https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Feb 17, 2015 6:46 AM UTC by [Kevin McSpadden](https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Feb 17, 2015 6:46 AM UTC Scientists have found evidence that life on earth may have [blossomed 3.2 billion years ago](http://www.washington.edu/news/2015/02/16/ancient-rocks-show-life-could-have-flourished-on-earth-3-2-billion-years-ago/), a challenge to the previous theory that the planet was a hostile climate until 2 billion years ago. Researchers from the University of Washington studied ancient rocks and found indications that 3.2 billion years ago life was sucking an essential nutrient, nitrogen, out of the air and converting it into larger structures, according to a [report](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14180.html) published in the weekly journal _Nature._ “Imagining that this really complicated process is so old, and has operated in the same way for 3.2 billion years, I think is fascinating,” lead author Eva Stüeken told _UW Today_. Nitrogen is an essential ingredient for life, as everything from viruses and bacteria to complex organisms use the nutrient to build genes. The process that makes nitrogen easier for organisms to use, called nitrogen fixation, did not emerge until 2 billion years ago. This led scientists to theorize that the earliest ecosystems were clinging on to an essentially uninhabitable planet, but the new study shows that may not be accurate. “Our work shows that there was no nitrogen crisis on the early earth, and therefore it could have supported a fairly large and diverse biosphere,” said study co-author Roger Buick. ### PHOTOS: This Astronaut's Images of Earth Look Like Beautiful Abstract Paintings  "Harsh land. Windswept valleys in northern #Africa"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 6, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Land use in South Africa, you can see where water is."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 9, 2014. 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Can you spot them?"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 9, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3711556/environment-earth-nitrogen-study-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3711556/environment-earth-nitrogen-study-science/"},"headline":"Life May Have Thrived on Earth 3.2 Billion Years Ago, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-02-17T06:46:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:36.565Z","description":"Scientists had previously thought the earliest ecosystems were clinging on to an essentially uninhabitable planet","url":"https://time.com/3711556/environment-earth-nitrogen-study-science/","keywords":["Environment","study","Science topic","Genes","earth","Discovery"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin McSpadden","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3711556/environment-earth-nitrogen-study-science/","name":"Life May Have Thrived on Earth 3.2 Billion Years Ago, Study Says"}}]}] ```