Page 78 - A Chain of Miracles

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A A Chain of Miracles
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IDEAL RATIOS IN THE ATMOSPHERE
The Earth’s atmosphere is a cocktail of different gases in the
proper ratio (78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% carbon dioxide and
other gases like argon), formed by a combination of extraordi-
nary conditions and designed to support life.
Let us begin with oxygen, the most important gas because
life forms from simple one-called bacteria up to complex human

beings depend on oxygen for the many chemical reactions that
produce their energy. This is why we need to breathe continu-
ously. Interestingly, the percentage of oxygen in the air we
breathe is very carefully arranged. As Michael Denton says:
Could your atmosphere contain more oxygen and still support
life? No! Oxygen is a very reactive element. Even the current per-
centage of oxygen in the atmosphere, 21 percent, is close to the
upper limit of safety for life at ambient temperatures. The proba-
bility of a forest fire being ignited increases by as much as 70 per-
cent for every 1 percent increase in the percentage of oxygen in
the atmosphere. 34
British biochemist James Lovelock further explores this crit-

ical ratio:
Above 25% very little of our present land vegetation could sur-
vive 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. 35
The percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere is preserved by
a perfect cycle. Animals continuously inhale oxygen and exhale

carbon dioxide. Plants, on the other hand, absorb carbon dioxide

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