What Would Really Happen If Earth Lost Oxygen — As NASA Warns We’re Already ‘Running Out’

If NASA’s prediction proves accurate, the future of Earth could be in serious danger

Oxygen is not only the most essential element for the human body, but it is also critical for countless natural systems and processes that keep our planet functioning. Even the smallest reduction in oxygen levels could cause wide-ranging and damaging effects.

Since humans cannot survive without oxygen, NASA’s recent announcement that Earth is officially ‘running out of oxygen’ has understandably left many people deeply concerned. The thought of a future where oxygen scarcity threatens all life on the planet is frightening to imagine.

While NASA’s forecast might sound extreme, scientists explain that this so-called ‘great deoxygenation’ would likely take place over the next 10,000 years. Still, the idea has made many wonder what impact even small reductions in oxygen could have on daily life and the natural world.

Fortunately, a detailed simulation created by the YouTube channel What If explores this question, showing how people, animals, and the planet itself might react if oxygen levels steadily dropped by 1% every second. The results, as you might expect, are far from comforting.

What would happen if Earth lost its oxygen?

The What If simulation offers a step-by-step look at what would happen as oxygen slowly disappears over time, rather than disappearing all at once.

This approach allows us to clearly see how the human body would respond to different oxygen levels before reaching the point where no oxygen at all remains.

At around a 10% drop, most people would start to feel unusually tired. It would be similar to the fatigue you might experience at a high-altitude location where oxygen is naturally lower, though the impact at this stage would not yet be severe.

The danger becomes much more serious once oxygen falls by about 30%. Physical activity would suddenly feel far harder than normal, leaving people gasping for air and struggling to catch their breath.

Patients in hospitals with existing heart or lung problems would face life-threatening risks as their bodies strain to get enough oxygen. Wildlife would be affected too, with birds beginning to literally drop from the sky.

Electrical systems would also start failing, which could send transportation, healthcare, and even financial services into full crisis mode — somewhat like the chaos caused by a massive solar storm.

At this point, non-electric vehicles would be useless because combustion engines depend on oxygen to work. Airplanes would also be grounded, since they need oxygen to burn fuel efficiently at higher altitudes.

When oxygen levels drop to around 50%, the human brain would no longer get enough of it to function properly. This would cause mass confusion, poor decision-making, and serious health issues across the globe.

The ozone layer, which is made of oxygen molecules, would also begin to break down, letting more harmful UV radiation from the Sun reach Earth. But given the scale of the other problems, this might feel like the least urgent concern at the time.

Your body and brain would struggle to function if oxygen levels dropped, causing you to collapseGetty Stock

Once the planet loses 99% of its oxygen, life as we know it would be over. Humans, animals, and ecosystems would all be gone.

With the human body being made up of about 65% oxygen, losing it would cause our bodies to collapse into a ‘pulpy mess.’ Even buildings would crumble, since oxygen plays a role in holding materials like concrete together.

And even if oxygen could somehow be fully restored, recovery would not be possible at this stage. It might take billions of years — if ever — for life to return to the planet.

So while NASA’s warning about deoxygenation applies to a distant future, the reality is that even small drops in oxygen could have visible effects on life on Earth. If such a decline happened faster and closer to our time, it could lead to devastating consequences much sooner than we expect.

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