Evolutionary Model of Early Earth's Atmosphere Fails Test

Genesis 1:31
“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

According to the theory of evolution, the atmosphere of the very early Earth contained no oxygen, but it did contain carbon dioxide. When the plants and trees evolved, they lived on the carbon-dioxide as they still do today and, by metabolizing carbon dioxide, they released oxygen as a waste product.

When sufficient oxygen had been produced, air-breathing animals evolved, but this was supposedly a slow process. Calculations showed that by the time the dinosaurs were beginning to die out, 65 million evolutionary years ago, the Earth’s atmosphere only contained 10 to 12 percent oxygen. Today, the atmosphere is 21 percent oxygen. But to complicate the issue, there is much fossil evidence of wildfires during this era. The researchers wondered whether the small amount of oxygen that was supposedly in the atmosphere then could support such fires under realistic conditions.

Tests were carried out in an atmosphere containing 12 percent oxygen using paper, matches, wooden sticks and a candle. The results showed that none of these items will burn readily until the atmosphere contains a minimum of 17 percent oxygen. The evolutionary model of the early Earth’s atmosphere was proven wrong!

When God finished creating, He declared that everything was “very good.” That includes the design of the atmosphere with enough oxygen to support life, but not too much to cause fire to burn explosively.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for so wisely designing the Earth’s atmosphere so that it supports life and fire serves us. Amen.

Notes:
Science, 29 August 2008, pp. 1197-1200, C.M. Belcher, J.C. McElwain, “Limits for Combustion in Low Co2 Redefine Paleoatmospheric Predictions for the Mesozoic.” Illustration: The fire tetrahedron. (PD)