Oxygen is one of the essential things for
our existence. Five seconds is really short time, almost negligible. But what would
happen if there was no oxygen for these negligible five seconds? There are some
interesting answer.
- Everyone at the beach would immediately get sunburns because oxygen in the air protects our skin against UV light. Even though there would be no beach, no sand and no water according to following points.
- The daytime sky would get dark because it’s oxygen that bounces light. Without oxygen the sky would be almost black.
- The Earth’s crust would crumble because oxygen makes up 45% of the Earth’s crust.
- Everyone’s inner ear would explode because without oxygen we would lose about 21% of the air pressure. So it would be worse than like to climb Mountain Everest in a second.
- Every building made of concrete would turn into dust because oxygen is important binding material.
- Every living cell would explode in a haze of hydrogen gas.
- Water is 1/3 oxygen. Without it hydrogen would turn into gas and expand in volume. Thank to this the oceans would evaporate and float into space.
But what if the amount of oxygen doubled?
Paper airplanes would fly further, our cars would get better gas mileage, we
would be happier, more alert, and our cognition and physical performance would
improve. But, there would be giant insects because its size is determined by
the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere. So, everything in moderation,
right?
