A new video is creating seismic waves on social media, revealing the horrifying reality of what would happen if Earth lost its oxygen for five seconds.
While most humans can hold their breath for long periods of time, the loss of this vital gas element would throw our world into chaos.
Some of the consequences, such as the disappearance of the Earth's protective ozone layer, may not surprise many, but the numerous TikTok users who described this hypothetical doomsday scenario left a few surprises.
For example, even if the sun were still shining on our planet, you would be unlikely to see any of these rapid catastrophes because the world would be plunged into total darkness.
A new video is making waves on social media, revealing the horrifying reality of what would happen if Earth lost all its oxygen for five seconds (above). While most humans can hold their breath for long periods of time, the disappearance of this vital gas would throw our world into chaos
While most humans can hold their breath for long periods of time, you're unlikely to see any rapid catastrophes on an oxygen-free Earth as the world turns into total darkness, said @mulligan.tv on TikTok.
'At first, your body probably won't notice,' says Thomas Mulligan @mulligan.tv on stage.
'But you'll notice when the sky goes completely black,' Mulligan added, 'there's no oxygen in the atmosphere to scatter the light rays from the sun.'
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Mulligan is known for his videos about space, technology, the future, and famous scientific figures such as Albert Einstein and Carl Sagan.
As of this writing, he has amassed an audience of nearly 963,000 followers on the platform, inspired by his short explanations and scientific trivia.
The TikToker pointed out that any form of transport that relies on fuel would 'stop working instantly'. And more dangerous, he said, 'is that the ozone layer will also disappear, so that the process of cooking everyone and everything will begin'.
Mulligan – who has made videos about how to survive a zombie apocalypse, the 'Kardashev criteria' for advanced alien civilizations and more – teased the second-order effects of mass oxygen disappearance on Earth.
'Any form of transportation that relies on combustion would immediately cease to function,' TikTok pointed out, 'causing planes to fall from the sky and millions of cars to stop working.'
And more dangerous, he said: 'The ozone layer will also disappear, causing everyone and everything to start the cooking process.'
In these new pitch-black conditions, humans will only feel and hear these dramatic, earth-shattering effects, Mulligan said, and soon the entire world's population will lose one of their five senses.
He explained that the human ear drum can burst due to a change in atmospheric air pressure created within a vacuum where oxygen is missing.
But, perhaps the biggest surprise in this scenario, the entire planet would begin to rapidly shrink, at least according to Mulligan, and fall off the crust.
His reasoning included geochemistry and plate tectonics.
„Earth's crust is 45 percent oxygen,” Mulligan told his TikTok followers, „and it's going to collapse completely.”
'Everyone and everything immediately begins to fall towards the centre.'
What happens to the earth when the sun dies?
After another five billion years, the Sun is said to have grown into a red giant star, a hundred times larger than its current size.
Eventually, it will eject gas and dust, forming a 'cloak' about half its mass.
The core becomes a small white dwarf star. It will light up the envelope to form a ring-shaped planetary nebula that will shine for thousands of years.
After five billion years, the Sun is said to have grown into a red giant star, a hundred times larger than its current size.
While this metamorphism will change the Solar System, scientists are not sure what will happen to the third rock from the Sun.
We already know that our sun would be so big and bright that it would destroy any life on our planet.
But it is uncertain whether Earth's rocky core will survive.