(no subject)
Did you know about 2,400 million years ago there was an event colloquially called the Oxygen Catastrophe, and it was responsible for most of life (and even rocks!) as we know it? I did not, which is a shame because it is fascinating!
The Great Oxygenation Event (GOE, also called the oxygen catastrophe or oxygen crisis or Great Oxidation) was the appearance of free oxygen (O2) in Earth's atmosphere. This major environmental change happened around 2,400 million years ago.
The rising oxygen levels may have wiped out a huge portion of the Earth's inhabitants at the time. From their perspective it was a catastrophe. Cyanobacteria were essentially responsible for probably the largest extinction event in Earth's history.
Why didn't we cover this in school?
The Great Oxygenation Event (GOE, also called the oxygen catastrophe or oxygen crisis or Great Oxidation) was the appearance of free oxygen (O2) in Earth's atmosphere. This major environmental change happened around 2,400 million years ago.
The rising oxygen levels may have wiped out a huge portion of the Earth's inhabitants at the time. From their perspective it was a catastrophe. Cyanobacteria were essentially responsible for probably the largest extinction event in Earth's history.
Why didn't we cover this in school?