What would the world look like if life had never been introduced?

[Daniel]

Would the sky still be blue? Would there be oxygen? Carbon dioxide? Water vapor? Oceans?

 

[Scully]

No coral reefs, no limestone, no fossil fuel deposits.

 

[bill j]

Barren rocks and barren oceans. Everything would be a dull shade of gray. No life means no oxygen to scatter the sunlight so the sky would be black.

Our atmosphere would consist of whatever gasses were put out by volcanoes. Mostly CO2 with some hydrogen and helium and traces of other gasses.

Over time existing gasses, no matter how thin, would erode the rocks so you would definitely get an ashy powder, maybe some sand.

 

[Miguel M]

beautiful...anyway, the skies and all that other stuff you mentioned would still be there. we are only here because it was those very condtions that allowed us to be here. truth is the earth doesn't need us. our species could go extinct tomorrow and earth's history wouldn't even bat an eye and she would be better off without us. but we need earth.