If more oxygen were in the atmosphere, would it change anything?

Question

If more oxygen were in the atmosphere, would it change anything?

Answer 1

Ya i was watching this show on the discovery channel, walking with the dinosaurs, or something evolution-ist, and they said that in the Pennsylvanian Era storms were more fierce and the trees were really dry so that wen lighting would strike, it would cause large fires. Oh and by the by the O2 count was something like 98% so that was real drastic.  

Answer 2

Yes. Fire would burn more fiercely. People and all kinds of animals could live at higher altitudes. Who knows what other changes would occur.

Answer 3

Yes. More oxygen means easier combustion. If there was a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere, some materials would burn under normal conditions and fires would be much more aggressive. In the biological aspect, evolution would adjust organisms two the environment, so I don' think there would be any different to where people and animals live or can they survive...

Answer 4

A very high level of oxygen in the atmosphere can actually trigger spontaneous combustion. I worked with cutting torches fueled by oxygen and acetylene, and one of the things I was warned never to do was to use oxygen to blow away dust and dirt. The pure oxygen would saturate something, which can then explode into flame at the touch of a spark, or in the case of some materials simply ignite spontaneously. Grease or oil can catch fire upon contact with oxygen. A planet with a very high level of oxygen in the atmosphere would have intense oxidation of everything that has an affinity for oxygen. Oxygen is a poison, and a very potent one at that. Only a few elements such as chlorine and fluorine are more reactive than oxygen. Life would have to adapt to high levels of oxygen, because it also breaks down organic molecules in the same way bleach will. The hemoglobin in our blood and that of animals would not have to be as efficient in carrying oxygen, and it's quite possible that lungs, gills and the the amount of hemoglobin needed to oxygenate tissues would be reduced in size or concentration in the body. High levels of oxygen would also dissolve into the oceans, and other bodies of water. There would also likely be minerals that would be much more abundant than they are at present because more oxygen would allow for the formation of more of them. Indeed, minerals that do not exist now might become possible because of the greater amount of oxygen available to combine with iron, silicon, titanium, aluminum, magnesium, sodium, copper and other metallic elements.

Answer 5

larger animals, and the sky would turn green/purple. oh and you would smell worse

Answer 6

size of animals would increase, it would be easier to ignite things, so lightning be your worst nightmare in a dry field.

Answer 7

There was more oxygen in the atmosphere during the reign of the dinosaurs, so it does promote the existence of larger animals.  Also insects!  Insects respire through their outer casing (no lungs), so this limits the size they get to.  There were centipedes a meter long and dragon flies with wingspans of several feet.  

Yes, forest fires would be more prevalent, and people could live at higher altitude.  

And finally, olympic records would be smashed.