Earth back then
Primeval Precipitation: What Fossil Imprints of Rain Reveal about Early Earth
--Fossil rain suggests the atmosphere 2.7 billion years ago boasted a hydrocarbon haze
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fossil-imprints-of-rain-reveal-early-earth-atmosphere
<blockquote>"...early Earth was essentially an alien world compared with today's planet—one devoid of plant life; with a moon that orbited more closely, driving stronger tides; and a very different atmosphere. "Yet it was very much alive," Som notes, boasting a rich array of microbial life, including photosynthetic bacteria, the ancestors of modern plant life just a scant few hundred million years from loading the atmosphere with oxygen..."</blockquote>
--Fossil rain suggests the atmosphere 2.7 billion years ago boasted a hydrocarbon haze
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fossil-imprints-of-rain-reveal-early-earth-atmosphere
<blockquote>"...early Earth was essentially an alien world compared with today's planet—one devoid of plant life; with a moon that orbited more closely, driving stronger tides; and a very different atmosphere. "Yet it was very much alive," Som notes, boasting a rich array of microbial life, including photosynthetic bacteria, the ancestors of modern plant life just a scant few hundred million years from loading the atmosphere with oxygen..."</blockquote>
