The air has a history
Can a forest change the sky?
Carboniferous, about 310 million years ago · Wet lowland tropics of a different continent map · Drawing. Not a photograph.
Generated interpretation of a coal-forming wetland forest. Not a modern jungle.
First look
Can a forest change the sky?
Wonder. Then look. This is not a test.
Plants had already come ashore. In the Carboniferous they built vast wet forests.
Some of that buried carbon became coal.
Oxygen in the air was likely higher than today. Scientists still argue about how much, and why some insects grew large.
First look is enough. Keep looking is if you want more.
Keep looking
How would we know? Open only if you want the evidence.
Keep looking · No simple giant-bug rule
High oxygen is part of the story of large Carboniferous insects, but it is not a complete explanation. Body plans, predation, and habitat matter too. We do not overstate it.