Oxygen

Think about all the things a planet needs to support life; oxygen, water, variety of plants, insect to pollinate the plants, variety of animals, temper climate, just the right distance from the sun, the right kind of sun, a large moon, the right placement in the milky way….etc.

Look at the air we breathe, for example. Our bodies need enough oxygen to live, but if we have too much, it can damage our lungs. The amount of oxygen in the air needs to be very precise; not too much, not too little.

21% of the air we breathe is oxygen, which just so ‘happens’ to be the perfect amount. If you increased the oxygen level by 1%, the chances of natural forest fires occurring goes up by 70%! As you can see, there is little margin for error.

What makes up the other 79% of the air we breathe? I was hoping you’d ask. Nitrogen. Nitrogen just so ‘happens’ to be the perfect dilute of oxygen, because it doesn’t react with our bodies in any way; you breathe in the nitrogen, but then you breathe it right back out. Almost all other gases—carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, etc—are poisonous to humans! We are very ‘lucky’ that nitrogen makes up most the air we breathe.

Exploring Creation with Chemistry by Dr. Jay L. Wile