We all know we need to breathe to live, but we rarely stop to think about why. The process of respiration in the human body is a constant cycle of taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. Just as a car needs fuel to function, our bodies require oxygen to produce energy, which we call ATP. While every living organism needs a respiration mechanism to generate ATP to function, not all need oxygen.
Some organisms have Anaerobic Respiration, where instead of oxygen, they use other substances like sulfur and nitrate to generate energy. This type of respiration is much less efficient in generating energy than oxygen-based respiration (aerobic), but simpler organisms like bacteria and fungi use it.
So life is possible without oxygen, just not complex life like Animals that require an extraordinary amount of energy. Our existence was only possible after Oxygen started to become more abundant on Earth about 2.3 billion years ago (half of Earth’s age), with the appearance of photosynthesis. It is a miracle that we cannot fully explain why it happened on this little rock.
Take a deep breath, and be grateful for the magic of aerobic respiration that powers all of us.
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