# @seed on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BgCmibYDqKj
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34248027-seed-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/041d3f9dd4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-03-07T23:36:05.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Seed (@seed) — https://gondola.cc/seed

## Caption

For the entire first half of Earth's existence, there was no #oxygen. The world was inhabited only by #microscopic, single-celled #organisms¹.⠀
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But roughly 2.45 #billion years ago, one such group of simple life forms created oxygen from light, water, and carbon dioxide (yes, #photosynthesis), witnessed the shift of Earth's #biosphere, and ushered in the beautiful possibility of #life as we know it.⠀
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They're called #cyanobacteria and they caused what is now known as the Great Oxygenation Event, triggering the #evolution of #complex life—from #plants to sponges to worms to fish, and ultimately, #humans. They’ve created and seen the entire history of our world, still living today in ponds, oceans, soil, and even #Antarctic rocks. Sometimes, they become enormous visible colonies in the form of algal blooms, which are both beautiful and deadly.
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¹ #Microbes have resided on our planet for over 3.7 billion years, spanning approximately 85% of our planet’s #history. By contrast, human life only represents 0.001%.⠀
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Source | Cyano CBF. "Cyanobacteria section III"⠀
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Source | Algal Blooms. Peter Essick, National Geographic.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 77
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- **Comments:** 4

## Tags

plants, antarctic, microbes, history, evolution, cyanobacteria, photosynthesis, complex, biosphere, organisms, humans, billion, oxygen, life, microscopic

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