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Anonymous
Hallo /an/, two questions.

What is the most populous location for Animals? (the Amazon or some other rainforest?)

And what insects & animals would survive either heavier/thicker or thinner oxygen/air that we, as humans, couldn't?

I think only fish and the like which can breath through the water would survive, along with possibly most insects (if it's thinner).
>> Anonymous
numerically? the ocean has most of the world's life.
>> Anonymous
>>330843
Well, sure, that's true. I was thinking about for land-dwellers though.
>> Anonymous
humans can survive much thinner air than you seem to give us credit for, The Incas of Peru had/have much more hemoglobin in their blood to enable them to function at higher altitudes in air that is much much thinner than sea level, to the point that their Inca Highway runners could run many miles without tiring while those acclimated to sea level get winded after a short jog. This is the reason NFL teams try to get to Denver early to acclimate before they play the Broncos and US Olympians as well actually, hell you can breath on the top of mt everest, you just aint doing much while you are there or you pass out.

Deadly low oxygen rates could easily be overcome by personal air compressors or personal oxygen reactors made from cheap and easy to find chemicals, just leading a less active lifestyle, stay inside unless equipped etc...but like I said, if thi happened slowly the hemoglobin in our blood could just get higher up to a limit, like thickening our blood to the point of frequent strokes or poor circulation

Also thin air would eventually lead to poorly oxygenated water, the tuna/marlin would probably be the first to go I bet, along with everything tropical (less O in warm water)
>> Anonymous
>>330865
Interesting. What about air that became thicker/heavier?

And I'm thinking about a near instant change, the world over.
>> Anonymous
>>330868
We would all be too fucking high to give a shit
>> Anonymous
>>330876
actually I don't know how much O it takes to cause euphoria, but that was fun to say.
Oxygen can easily become toxic though depending on it's pressure, very thick air with high O concentrations could probably get to the level that the O becomes toxic, at least at low altitudes. Also, too thick and the atmosphere could easily become flammable, cuasing a spark to literally set the world on fire.

To thick of air could also possibly cause humans to get "the bends" (Decompression sickness) or nitrogen narcosis from sudden changes in altitude.

Moderatly elevated O would probably just allow us to be more active.
>> Anonymous
>>330881too thick and the atmosphere could easily become flammable

Yeah, I'm concerned about that. See, I'm working on a story (planning stages right now) and the makeup of oxygen will change (heavier/thicker/something striped away/something added) causing the majority of humanity (and other animals) to die, and really only those living off-world survive.

I'd like a relatively hard science start before I go off into space colonies and the like. (Though I know space colonies can fall under hard science if done right.)
>> Anonymous
>>330906


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806112323.htm

This link should generate some interest, in this case.

There was a popular science show that touched on the effects of a higher oxygen content atmosphere; something about a prehistoric zoo where they go back in time and snatch individuals from the brink of species extinction? Anyway, it was wildly inaccurate and full of surmise but highly entertaining. There was some minor comment about the fire risks that a high oxygen-content atmosphere generates.
>> Anonymous
>>330840

I'd guessing the Amazon for land-based stuff, just right off the top of my head. The amount of arthropod diversity alone in rain forests is ridiculous, not to mention other invertebrates like worms.

As for atmospheric conditions, an increase in oxygen levels would be great for arthropods. About 250 million years ago the atmosphere was way more saturated with oxygen, and huge insects and whatnot were everywhere. Inversely, I'm pretty sure less oxygen would fuck over bugs and stuff due to how their respiratory systems are set up. They don't actively breath like mammals or reptiles, but instead have a sort of free-flow systems where air just drifts through. So less oxygen means way less activity for insects.

Of course, it would take a ton of extra oxygen to kill all humans, and at that point I think the atmospheric pressure would rape most everything. I'm not sure exactly what would be left, but it'd definitely be another win for roaches.

And as some other guy said, super low oxygen levels would eventually destroy tropical ecosystems and probably most marine ones, too. In the long run, the climate changes and havoc wreaked on ecosystems we take for granted due to lowered oxygen levels would probably get to us humans before the lack of oxygen itself would.

And after writing that all, I realized that I never gave you a straight-up answer to your question. I really can't specifically say what would be left alive under conditions that would kill mankind in its entirety.
>> Anonymous
>>330930
Straight answer or not, interesting stuff. And got me thinking about Earth's climate in my story, in a longer sense.

>>330927
Same. Thanks.
>> Anonymous
>>330868What about air that became thicker/heavier?

wut