Sun stealing our atmosphere, Don't Panic.

Using data provided by the ESA's Mars Express and Nasa's Small Explorer (SMEX), researchers at UCLA have worked out that not only does the Earth's magnetic field not protect Earth's atmosphere from being lost into space by the action of the solar wind, but we actually lose it faster than Mars or Venus. Earth's magnetic field makes life as we know it possible by blunting the sun's radiation, but it apparently also funnels some atmospheric gases off into space, although the phyisical mechanism is not understood. Be sure to read down to the section entiled "don't panic" (appreciate the Hitchhiker's Guide reference), as its important to note that the loss of atmosphere is so slow that the sun will die before our atmosphere becomes too thin to sustain life. Hey, I never said that we weren't doomed.