Full Citation: Robinson, T. D., and Reinhard, C. T. (2020). Earth as an Exoplanet. In Planetary Astrobiology (V. S. Meadows et al., eds.), pp. 379-418. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, DOI: 10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816540068-ch015.
Abstract: The quest for both habitable and inhabited worlds beyond Earth is key to understanding the potential distribution of life in the universe. This ongoing search seeks to answer profound questions: Are we alone? How unique is Earth? Should the hunt for life beyond Earth uncover a multitude of habitable worlds and few (if any) inhabited ones, humanity would begin to understand just how lonely and fragile our situation is. On the other hand, if our hunt yields a true diversity of inhabited worlds, then we would learn something fundamental about the tenacity of life in the cosmos.
URL: https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816540068