Page 101 - The Creation Of The Universe

Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) 99

mosphere of Earth is specially created to support life in a number of cru-
cial ways.
The atmosphere of Earth is composed of 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen,
and 1% carbon dioxide. Let's start with the most important gas: oxygen.
Oxygen is vitally important to life because it enters into most of the chem-
ical reactions that release the energy that all complex life-forms require.
Carbon compounds react with oxygen. As a result of these reactions,
water, carbon dioxide, and energy are produced. Small "bundles" of ener-
gy that are called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and are used in living cells
are generated by these reactions. This is why we constantly need oxygen
to live and why we breathe to satisfy that need.
The interesting aspect of this business is that the percentage of oxygen
in the air we breathe is very precisely determined. Michael Denton writes
on this point:
Could your atmosphere contain more oxygen and still support life? No!
Oxygen is a very reactive element. Even the current percentage of oxy-
gen in the atmosphere, 21 percent, is close to the upper limit of safety
for life at ambient temperatures. The probability of a forest fire being
ignited increases by as much as 70 percent for every 1 percent increase
in the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere. 60
According to the British biochemist James Lovelock:
Above 25% very little of our present land vegetation could survive the
raging conflagrations which would destroy tropical rain forests and
arctic tundra alike... The present oxygen level is at a point where
risk and benefit nicely balance. 61
That the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere remains at this precise
value is the result of a marvelous "recycling" system: Animals constantly
consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide, which, for them, is not
breathable. Plants do just the opposite: they take in carbon dioxide, which
they need to live, and release oxygen instead. By means of this system, life
goes on. Plants release millions of tons of oxygen into the atmosphere
every day.
Without the cooperation and balance of these two different groups of