There is an old Soviet sci-fi book from 50s by Alexandr Kazantsev, "The Burning Island", where he depicted an island in the Pacific Ocean producing some catalys

There is an old Soviet sci-fi book from 50s by Alexandr Kazantsev, "The Burning Island", where he depicted an island in the Pacific Ocean producing some catalyst that made self-sustaining exothermal reaction between nitrogen and oxygen possible; the reaction had sucked out all oxygen from Earth atmosphere. The book has several scientific discussions, but the essence of the catalyst is avoided. There is another sci-fi book by the same author, "Faetians", where he depicts the fifth planet of the Solar System, Faeton (a hypothetical planet between Mars and Jupiter that could be the source of the asteroid belt), destroyed by nuclear fusion of its ocean hydrogen after several powerful nuclear explosions. The author gives even less explanations there. So, I think the atmosphere explosion is a myth rooted in sci-fi books, at least in Soviet culture (I have not yet encountered such plots in American literature/movies of that time, but maybe I'm just not familiar enough with it).