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November 26, 2014

Fire history is Big History:

it’s the story of what makes the Earth what it is.

Our planet is built to burn. Life in the oceans fluffed the atmosphere with oxygen, life on land stuffed surfaces with combustibles. Combustion takes apart what photosynthesis brings together. The chemistry of life is a chemistry of combustion. It’s what makes the animate world move. Earth has been burning continuously for 420 million years. Fire is older than insects, trees, and Pangaea.
Moved by Fire: History’s Promethean Moment—Vol. 2, No. 4—The Appendix

Posted by gerardvanderleun at November 26, 2014 6:59 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

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