now they often say that too much of a good thing is often bad but what if we
applied that same idiom to the most essential component of our insured human
survival oxygen the breath of life sweet sweet fresh air the best friend to our
lungs our blood and our brains and the only reason that we can continue
watching this video for the next nine or so minutes oxygen is awesome and it's
safe to say that without it we wouldn't ever be around to posit ourselves upon
this particular hypothetical notion now although we've covered the Earth's
supply of oxygen cutting out in various experimental LV cues today let's see
what life would be like with more of the stuff and believe me things would be
much more interesting than you might first have expected
hello Internet what's going on and once again welcome back to the most
inquisitive channel on YouTube life's biggest questions as per usual up you
listen body flowing voice Jack Finch as today we cure ask the question what if
the oxygen on earth doubled pull the clip then
volumes acidosis yeah for the curious amongst you that clip was from the 2000
sci-fi film red planet starring Val Kilmer and Simon Baker and although that
scene in particular was perhaps the complete opposite as to the implications
of this life's biggest question for those of you that have already seen the
final events of Red Planet you'll know that putting oxygen in places that it
doesn't belong more often than not is a pretty bad thing but let's forget all
about Mars in this particular situation and instead focus on our own loveable
pale blue dot of a planet Earth and to first address this hypothetical question
we can actually turn our minds to the long-forgotten places of ancient history
to get a better handle on how things would play out if the oxygen on earth
doubled interestingly enough through all manners of geology we can turn the clock
back to a time where the abundance of life-giving air was in fact exactly that
double Wow nearly anyway over 300 million years ago Earth's atmosphere was
around 31 to 35 percent oxygen nearly a third more than what it is now and the
effects that had on the floor and fauna that populated our planet at the time
were staggering as we mentioned previously oxygen is the most important
element as humans and as far as life is concerned it is the fundamental building
block for life to create energy and vice-versa so then you could easily
imagine that with twice the amount of oxygen would come twice the amount of
light for in this case twice the size of life
yes stick with me during prehistoric times in an age where gigantic lizards
roam the earth even insects were more than twice the size of what they are now
over eons as these creatures breathed the densely oxidized environment
filtering through their trachea and the spiracles which connect their tissues
that need oxygen the enriched source of atmosphere caused their bodies to expand
and rapidly kick-start their evolutionary growth rate in most cases
dragonflies were the size of Hawks and even smaller species of spiders were the
size of large pigeons there was even a six-foot centipede roaming around in
North America and Scotland that's pretty terrifying right in fact
if the oxygen on earth doubled right this second to the levels that they were
at during the Pennsylvanian period of the Paleozoic era the effects that it
would have on the human body would be immediately staggering compared to the
hundreds of thousands of years that these giant insects had to adapt and
thrive if we stepped outside and breathe in the fresh air of an oxygen doubled
environment we'd more than likely be hit with such an immediate head rush that
we'd straight up pass out our brains would be drunk off of the dizzying
potency of the air itself and we very quickly understand just exactly how
delicate a current ecosystem is however once we'd adapted to this oxygen doubled
environment we'd potentially be able to reap a wide variety of anatomical
benefits due to the brand-new abundance and availability of oxygen to your lungs
with every breath you take and every move you make your physical stamina
would increase tremendously in this new environment the blood that pumps through
your veins would become so oxygen-rich and your muscles so energized that even
an average ly healthy human would be able to perform on par with the most
capable of professional athletes students across the globe would rejoice
as the improved circulation of the human body made drastic changes in the
effectiveness of human concentration and even the most astonishing of human minds
currently thinking would be inundated with Eureka after Eureka as their brain
gobbled up more oxygen this newfound productivity for the human race would be
incredibly short-lived and it may quickly seem that too much of a good
thing is indeed in this case a very bad thing because in reality although in the
short term our bodies would reap the benefit of double the Earth's oxygen in
the long run it would also slash our lives
and pretty much in half you see oxygen is a free-radical and in the scientific
world that pretty much means that it does what it wants at a cellular level
often resulting in the detriment of a system in many ways oxygen is a
double-edged sword for all its positives it's also a toxic element in this case
more oxygen would mean more oxidative stress on our metabolism which would
lead to rapid cellular damage and could even cause adverse effects on our
central nervous system we'd age faster the cellular structure of our skin would
diminish quicker and all in all we'd live much shorter lives than what we do
now if the oxygen on earth doubled and if that didn't hammer home the duplicity
nature of an oxygen abundant environment then we'd also need to address the fact
that things tend to catch fire them all the oxygen is present yeah now although
this isn't one of those instant global firestorm type of situations it could in
fact very quickly and very easily lead to one again if we look back at
prehistory where the atmosphere was nearly 35% oxygen the Paleozoic
landscape was littered by continent-wide wildfires thanks to the oxygen density
having a habit of spurring on even the smallest of combustion x' if you lit a
campfire on our hypothetical earth in the middle of a dry forest it would
instantly ignite everything with the presence of more oxygen as fuel
continental wildfires would become the norm and humanity bare hope that the
increased physical capabilities bestowed upon them were put to good use in order
to ensure our survival on the upside though mountainous regions such as the
Himalayas would quickly become much more human-friendly environment so if the
worst came to worse we could always seek refuge under the shadow of Mount Everest
where the atmospheric pressure would be much easier for us to stomach or breathe
I guess if all of this has got you a little worried at the prospect of the
earth suddenly bursting with an abundance of more oxygen then please
don't panic because thankfully for us our wonderful planet called Earth has
spent millennia cultivating the delicately crafted atmosphere to ensure
that we're all comfortable and relatively healthy humans that can
happily contribute to our planets continued success in a perfectly
balanced 21% oxygen environment it took a while to get there but hey at least 6
foot centipedes aren't a thing anymore right right well there we have it our
long and short answer to the question what if the
oxygen on earth doubled we'd live much shorter lives the planet would be a
regular blazing Hellfire insects would grow bigger and we probably have to live
in the mountains but hey we could run pretty fast what do you guys think do
you agree disagree I have any more interesting insights to add then please
let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below as well as any
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and please until next time you take it easy