When discovering a planets weather becomes a stereotype

[Tim]

The astronomers from the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris have now re-evaluated Gliese 581d, declaring it first Blighty-like exoplanet – cold, rainy and just about capable of supporting life.

Come on! It's not that bad here

Planet with British weather found 20 light years away

note for our international readers: "Blighty" is an affectionate name for the UK

 

[Tom]

As we gather more accurate observations of extrasolar planets we will revise our classification types to more and more accurate desriptions using Earthlike weather as =1.
With Earth at 1.0
Some planets will be .9990986
Some might be 1.000986
A 2.0 atmosphere might be twice that of Earth.

I would be curious to know if a classification like that is adopted. First tho, I think we need to find more Earthlike atmospheres. Since the search is just beginning I think it may be sometime before we have enough observations to make such comparisons.

 

[Tom]

Technically, We are a Nitorgen Breathing lifeform. People think we are oxygen breathers because we need oxygen to survive but what we actually breathe is nitrogen with a mix of oxygen added in. We respire 3 times the amount of nitrogen as we do oxygen.