There are a few questions in life that many of us think about on an almost daily basis.
Is there an afterlife? Will I get this new job? Should I eat this last doughnut, even though I’ve already eaten the entire box?
What would happen if all the Earth’s oxygen disappeared?
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Some of these questions are more important than others...
YouTube Channel ‘What If’ is filled with answers to some of the most intriguing questions you can imagine. However, the answers can be downright horrifying.
Poised with imagining ‘what if the Earth’s oxygen disappeared not for forever, but for 5 seconds’, the team at What If described a terrifying outcome.
While a lot of us can go without taking a breath for multiple seconds to show off to friends, or while taking a swim, the Earth going without oxygen isn’t as simple.
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According to the channel, huge structures like the Hoover Dam, in the United States, or the Pantheon Dome in Rome, and anything else made of concrete would completely collapse.
This is because oxygen is part of the binding agent that makes up concrete. Without it, as shown in the short video, concrete is ‘just dust’.
Untreated metal, would also instantly fuse in those 5 seconds. Typically, there’s a layer of oxidation in metals, to prevent them from welding together. Without oxygen, this layer of protection would no longer exist.
The ozone layer, a layer of natural gas which shields us from the sun’s harsh UV rays, is also made up of Oxygen. Without oxygen for five seconds, our skin would be at the mercy of sunburn. Not only that we’d also be at an increased risk of developing skin cancer.
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The team at WhatIf also states that while our skin would suffer, so would our inner ears. 21% of our air pressure is made up of oxygen and a change in pressure that drastic, could result in our inner ears exploding.
With no oxygen, we’d also have no power for non-electric vehicles like cars and planes, and our sky would remain dark without oxygen in its atmosphere.
Worse still, the entire Earth’s crust would crumble, as you’ve guessed it, it too is made of 45% oxygen.
With all that taken on board, it’s no wonder that many viewers were shocked.
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One YouTube user stated, ‘What an uplifting video to watch on a Friday... '
Meanwhile another stated, 'Crazy how 5 seconds oxygen lost could make the world collapse.'
As is common with horrifying situations, or at least the prospect of one, many resorted to humour instead.
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One fellow YouTube user commented, ‘Oxygen: leaves for 5 seconds. The existence of literally everything: ight imma head out.’
Meanwhile, another user shared, “My grandma would be flexin on everybody with her oxygen tank.’
While this is a scary thought, it’s worth noting that WhatIf is simply a YouTube Channel meant to entertain. With that in mind, the results aren’t an ‘exact science’ and just a series of guesses made to get you thinking.The video also isn’t clear whether it’s referring to the oxygen in our atmosphere, or any compound involving an oxygen atom. As one user pointed out in the comments, if the molecules in our bodies with oxygen atoms disappeared, we’d ‘literally disintegrate.’
At that point, the Earth’s crust crumbling into pieces would be the least of your worries.