What would the Earth look like if there was a sudden surge in oxygen?

As we all know, the oxygen content of the earth's surface is about 21%. What would the Earth look like if there was a sudden surge in oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere?

The earth is the cradle of life, whether it is ocean or land, there are various forms of life. With the exception of a few anaerobic bacteria, the vast majority of survival on Earth depends on oxygen.

But everything must be balanced. If the oxygen concentration is too low, the human body will suffer from hypoxia; if the oxygen concentration is too high, it will also be harmful to the human body. Therefore, drastic changes in oxygen concentration will inevitably affect life on Earth, and the impact is serious. In short, oxygen is a double-edged sword, too much is not good.

Because life on earth has basically adapted to the current oxygen concentration, in a short period of time, whether the oxygen content increases or decreases, it is not conducive to life as a whole, and species that cannot adapt in the short term will perish.

It is undeniable that animals in some plateau areas could not survive due to lack of oxygen, but with the explosion of oxygen content, this place can also become a paradise for animals.

Oxygen has strong oxidizing properties. In a high oxygen environment, metals such as iron are also more likely to oxidize and rust. Similarly, breathing high concentrations of oxygen for a long time is also very harmful to most animal organisms. Because in the high oxygen environment, the metabolism of the organism and the oxidation rate of the cells will be accelerated, which will lead to accelerated aging and death of the organism.

Oxygen is also a combustion support material, and in a high oxygen environment, the material will burn more easily. If the oxygen levels in the atmosphere increase, this is bound to increase the risk of fires and make fires more difficult to extinguish. If the oxygen content in the atmosphere is too high, the earth may be surrounded by a sea of ​​fire, and the sky will be covered with dust, and the earth may enter a new round of the Little Ice Age.

The surge in oxygen has relatively little effect on marine life. On land, although high concentrations of oxygen have less impact on plants, in fact, due to frequent fires, plants on land will also be greatly affected. The fire will consume a lot of oxygen, and the oxygen level in the atmosphere will fall back, eventually tending to equilibrium.

In short, a drastic change in oxygen concentration would wipe out many species. If such a change really occurs, this is definitely a relatively major mass extinction event in the history of the earth.

Lessons can be learned from history. In the 4.5 billion-year history of the earth, the concentration of oxygen is not constant, and there have been several large fluctuations. The first mass extinction event caused by changes in oxygen concentration occurred around 2 billion years ago.

At the beginning of the birth of the earth, the oxygen content in the atmosphere has been very low, less than 1%, but the concentration of carbon dioxide is relatively high. Life was born 3.5 billion years ago, and primitive life at that time did not need oxygen. They belonged to anaerobic organisms, and oxygen was harmful to them.

The emergence of cyanobacteria 2.4 billion years ago has completely changed the earth's environment since then, because it can produce oxygen through photosynthesis, which makes the oxygen content in seawater and the atmosphere continue to increase, and eventually extinct most anaerobic organisms, which is called the Great Oxidation Event.

For the next billion years, oxygen levels on Earth have remained stable. In the Cambrian period more than 500 million years ago, the oxygen content in the atmosphere had increased to about 12%, and the explosion of life in the Cambrian period was related to the increase in oxygen concentration. The oxygen content of the atmosphere in the ancient earth was measured based on radioactive isotopes in the strata.

Since the Cambrian period, life on earth has ushered in vigorous development. By the Carboniferous period 300 million years ago, plants had occupied 95% of the land. At that time, the oxygen content in the atmosphere was much higher than it is now, reaching 35%. . This is mainly because the plants at that time were very lush, and there were fewer animals that fed on plants, so over time, a lot of oxygen was added to the atmosphere. Much of the coal on Earth was formed during this period.

Arthropods also flourished at this time. Due to the relatively high oxygen concentration, dragonflies, spiders and other animals have grown very large in size. A dragonfly has spread its wings and is almost the size of an adult. Therefore, that era is also called the era of giant insects.

Arthropods do not rely on the lungs to breathe, and the increase in oxygen content will increase their breathing efficiency and increase their size. If the oxygen content on the earth suddenly increases to 30% now, and maintains this level, after hundreds of millions of years, the earth may return to the era of giant insects.

Since then, the oxygen concentration has experienced a fall, and by the age of the dinosaurs, the oxygen content on the earth has risen again. However, the huge size of dinosaurs is not caused by high concentrations of oxygen, but related to the competition for survival. Because mammals living in the same period were small in size.

From more than 2 billion years ago, the earth began to be rich in oxygen. Since then, the oxygen content of the atmosphere has experienced many ups and downs. Up to now, the oxygen concentration on the earth has basically remained at about 21%. If there is a sudden surge in oxygen levels, the entire ecosystem will experience a major shakeout, and some new species will explode in a short period of time.