Fire and life

                   Fire and life


The universe in which we live

is 13.8 billion years in the making

post big bang plasma coalescing into hydrogen and helium supernovea

during the first hundred million years

presaging more chemically complex 

stars and galaxies present by

about ten billion years ago

and the planets and moons 

asteroids and comets 

forming from the interstellar dust


When the earth was young

four billion years ago

it was a place devoid of life

methane and carbon dioxide

accumulating in the atmosphere

promoting a hotter planet

but a place devoid of fire


A billion years passed

before life began 

before the evolution 

of metabolic processes

capable of capturing energy

and structural molecules

from the harsh environment

cyanobacteria transforming

the planet into the fledgling world


These unicellular organisms

captured carbon dioxide

incorporating it into

their carboxylic acid cycles

releasing free oxygen

into the primitive atmosphere

so abundantly that 

much of the scant anaerobic life populating the planet then

was anihilated during that time 

more than two billion years ago


Biologically produced oxygen 

was one of the mechanisms that

eventually displaced

much of the blanket

that was the primitive atmosphere

so the planet cooled

while organisms capable

of utilizing the newly available 

supplies of oxygen evolved


The metabolic processes

involving the intake of oxygen

and output of carbon dioxide

and the reverse

are the foundation of the ecology

characterising life on this planet

biochemical respiration

present long before

the evolution of lungs or gills

the yin and yang

that resulted in

our beautiful world

an evolutionarily process

exploding half a billion years ago

accounting for plants and animals

complex multicellular organisms 

from which all extant species evolved

including the early primates 

and their human descendants


The atmosphere in which we live

comprised primarily 

of nitrogen and oxygen 

also enabled the natural phenomenon

of extremely rapid oxidation

of inflammable materials

the magic we call fire

the carbon rich organic matter 

produced by life now

and long before the present

transformed into heat and light

convection carrying the flames high

gravity keeping most 

of the ash on the ground


Fires were triggered

by lightning strikes

volcanic eruptions

and the sporadic sparks

produced when rock struck rock


We humans slowly learned

how to live with fire

to carry it with us

to manage ignition

to live in colder climates

to make more of the world 

around us edible


Because of fire

and other accumulating skills

and perhaps a lot of luck

and the blind power of evolution

our jaws got smaller

and our brains bigger

and we learned how to burn

how to use once wild energy

to enhance the quality

of our lives and civilizations


Within a mere 200,000 years

the proverbial blink of an eye

in evolutionary time

fire was tamed by the apes

who stood upright

walked on their hind legs

had bigger brains

and more imagination

than any of the lifeforms 

living now or ever before 

on this planet

apes using fire as a tool

leaving a trail of fire

wherever they went


Fire has been at

the heart of our civilizations

for thousands of years


Fire provides the heat

to make tools

to fuel machines

to create great cities

and remarkable infrastructures

to support huge populations

of human beings 

ever more capable 

of inventing technology

to make the world 

better for themselves


But now

so much of our technology

depends on fire from fossil fuels

the byproducts of ancient life

life capable of capturing energy 

directly from the sun


In the process

we generate energy

entailing the delivery

of unimaginably massive quantities

of carbon dioxide and methane

into the atmosphere

warming the earth

like the atmosphere

of the barren planet

long before life evolved here

before it was a world in balance

rich in the natural justice

we call ecology


And like the cyanobacteria

we may be creating

the next massive extinction


During the anthropocene 

the time of man

we became dependent upon fire

to create building materials

and modes of transportation

and heat in our houses

but life existed and succeeded

everywhere on the planet

without managed combustion

before we were here


If we copy the life 

all around us now

and design and engineer

in ways which mimic 

most of the lifeforms

which keep us company

this complex and beautiful world

may yet survive


We are learning how

to harness energy without fire


We are learning to use

the energy and the heat

deep in the earth

the ocean waves

the great rivers

the wind

and the light of the sun

in order to get along


Nuclear energy

is not fire

and is much kinder to the atmosphere

as a result

but we need to know

how to deal with the waste

produced by nuclear fission

before we are free


We are struggling

to mimic the sun

to use nuclear fusion instead

in order to avoid 

interminably hazardous waste


Life began before fire

Humans harnessed it

much later on

and for now 

it is impossible

for us to live without it


We love fire

We sit and stare at it

warming our hands and our souls

basking in the flickering light


But if this addiction 

is not moderated

it is going

to burn us up


This is not a question to ponder

but a choice 

between heaven and hell

a choice which we are obligated

to make right now


Aubrey Lieberman

3/29/23


Attribution: Janine M. Benyus


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