Cyanobacteria evolved around 2.7 billion years ago and were able to perform oxygen-producing photosynthesis. Over hundreds of millions of years, cyanobacteria steadily released oxygen into the oceans and atmosphere through photosynthesis. This Great Oxidation Event eventually led to oxygen replacing methane as a major component of the atmosphere between 2.4-2.1 billion years ago. This changed Earth's climate and chemistry forever, allowing for the evolution of aerobic metabolism and multicellular life.

1. The Great Oxidation
Event: How
Cyanobacteria
Changed Life On
Earth

2. What was it like
BEFORE
Whe n t he e a rt h wa s forme d a round 4.5 billion ye a rs a go,
it ha d va st ly diffe re nt c ondit ions. At t ha t t ime , t he e a rt h
ha d a re duc ing a t mosphe re , c onsist ing of c a rbon dioxide ,
me t ha ne a nd wa t e r va por, a s oppose d t o t he pre se nt- da y
a t mosphe re t ha t c onsist s prima rily of nit roge n a nd
oxyge n. T hough sunlight split t he wa t e r va por in t he
a t mosphe re int o oxyge n a nd hydroge n, t he oxyge n
quic kly re a c t e d wit h me t ha ne a nd got loc ke d int o t he
e a rt h’s c rust , ba re ly le a ving a ny t ra c e s in t he a t mosphe re
S inc e oxyge n wa s proje c t e d t o be a bse nt from t he e a rt h
a t t ha t t ime , me t a bolism in living orga nisms would ha ve
be e n a na e robic

3. WHO changed it?
A silent, mysterious force worked to
release oxygen steadily, until the very
composition of the atmosphere
changed. That mysterious entity
happened to be a
microbe: Cyanobacteria.

4. How could tiny cyanobacteria
be the harbingers of a change
of such magnitude?
around 2.7 billion years ago, a peculiar
group of microbes, known as cyanobacteria,
evolved
These microbes possessed the remarkable
ability to perform photosynthesis, (i.e., they
could generate energy from sunlight).
Cyanobacteria possessed the machinery to
utilize water as a fuel source by oxidizing it.
More significantly, the by-product of
photosynthesis happened to be oxygen.

5. Among all the biochemical
inventions that life could
conceive, the ability of
cyanobacteria to utilize
water as fuel for oxygen
generation must rank as
one of the most ingenious.

6. R e s e a r c h e r s h y p o t h e s i z e t h a t t h e l e v e l s o f o x y g e n
r e l e a s e d i n t o t h e s e a w a t e r b y c y a n o b a c t e r i a g r a d u a l l y
i n c r e a s e d o v e r t i m e , a n d t h a t o v e r a s p a n o f 2 0 0 - 3 0 0
m i l l i o n y e a r s , o x y g e n w a s p r o d u c e d a t a f a s t e r r a t e
t h a n i t c o u l d r e a c t w i t h o t h e r e l e m e n t s o r g e t
s e q u e s t e r e d b y m i n e r a l s . T h e o x y g e n r e l e a s e d b y
c y a n o b a c t e r i a s t e a d i l y a c c u m u l a t e d o v e r v a s t s w a t h e s
o f t h e o c e a n a n d o x y g e n a t e d t h e w a t e r
G r a d u a l l y , t h e a c c u m u l a t e d o x y g e n s t a r t e d e s c a p i n g
i n t o t h e a t m o s p h e r e , w h e r e i t r e a c t e d w i t h m e t h a n e .
A s m o r e o x y g e n e s c a p e d , m e t h a n e w a s e v e n t u a l l y
d i s p l a c e d , a n d o x y g e n b e c a m e a m a j o r c o m p o n e n t o f
t h e a t m o s p h e r e . T h i s e v e n t , k n o w n a s t h e “ G r e a t
O x i d a t i o n E v e n t , ” o c c u r r e d s o m e t i m e b e t w e e n 2 . 4 –
2 . 1 b i l l i o n y e a r s a g o .

7. Changing earth’s
chemistry
forever
T h e G r e a t O x i d a t i o n E v e n t w a s a n e p o c h a l m o m e n t i n
t h e e v o l u t i o n a r y t i m e l i n e a n d h a d s e v e r a l g r a v e
c o n s e q u e n c e s , n o t o n l y o n E a r t h ' s c l i m a t e ( i n d i r e c t l y ) ,
b u t a l s o o n t h e a d a p t a t i o n a n d e v o l u t i o n o f l i v i n g
o r g a n i s m s .
i t i s h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t a c c u m u l a t i o n o f o x y g e n i n t h e
a t m o s p h e r e l e d t o o n e o f t h e e a r l i e s t i c e a g e s o n
e a r t h . M e t h a n e i s a g r e e n h o u s e g a s , s i n c e i t t r a p s
h e a t f r o m s u n l i g h t a n d w a r m s t h e p l a n e t . A s m e t h a n e
w a s d i s p l a c e d b y o x y g e n , g l o b a l t e m p e r a t u r e s c o o l e d
s u f f i c i e n t l y t o g e n e r a t e i c e s h e e t s t h a t e x t e n d e d a l l
t h e w a y f r o m t h e p o l e s t o t h e t r o p i c s .

8. Oxyge n wa s a lso re sponsible for
forma t ion of t he oz one la ye r in t he
a t mosphe re . T he UV ra dia t ion from t he
sun split oxyge n mole c ule s ( O2) int o 2
a t oms of oxyge n, whic h t he n re a c t e d
wit h a not he r oxyge n mole c ule t o
ge ne ra t e oz one ( O3) . Oz one a c t s a s a
na t ura l sunsc re e n t o pre ve nt ha rmful
UV ra dia t ion from re a c hing t he e a rt h.

9. Emergence of
Aerobic
Metabolism
S i n c e l i f e w a s t o t a l l y a n a e r o b i c 2 . 7 b i l l i o n y e a r s a g o
w h e n c y a n o b a c t e r i a e v o l v e d , i t i s b e l i e v e d t h a t o x y g e n
a c t e d a s a p o i s o n a n d w i p e d o u t m u c h o f a n a e r o b i c
l i f e , c r e a t i n g a n e x t i n c t i o n e v e n t .
T h e r e l e a s e o f o x y g e n b y c y a n o b a c t e r i a w a s t h u s
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r c h a n g e s i n t h e e a r t h ’ s a t m o s p h e r i c
c o m p o s i t i o n , t h e r i s e o f a e r o b i c m e t a b o l i s m a n d ,
u l t i m a t e l y , t h e e v o l u t i o n o f m u l t i c e l l u l a r i t y . O x y g e n i s
t h e p r i m a r y m o l e c u l e t h a t m a k e s E a r t h w h a t i t i s
t o d a y , f a r m o r e h o s p i t a b l e a n d b e a u t i f u l t h a n t h e
e a r l y e a r t h . I t i s c e r t a i n l y n o e x a g g e r a t i o n t o s a y t h a t
w e o w e o u r e x i s t e n c e i n p r e s e n t f o r m t o
c y a n o b a c t e r i a .