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I'm not making a statement that death is a catalyst for man's existence or vice-versa. I think you're assuming I believe the exact opposite of what many young earthers believe regarding death and original sin. Since many young earthers believe that absolutely no organism could have possibly died at all until Adam and Eve sinned (as some interpret 1 Cor. 15:21-22 and Romans 5:12), maybe you're assuming I believe the opposite -- that Adam and Eve couldn't exist until other organisms died? I don't believe that at all. I simply believe many organisms were living, reproducing, and dying on the earth for at least hundreds of millions of years before Adam & Eve (whom I'd peg living around 100K to 150K years ago). The other organisms didn't have to die to cause Adam and Eve to come into being or to sin. The other organisms simply lived and died and lived and died and lived and died and kept on living and dying before God created Adam and Eve, before Adam and Eve sinned, and since Adam and Eve sinned. To me, the presence of other organisms before Adam and Eve's sin is not something I feel bound to either tie to each other or make sure they're disconnected from each other. They both simply exist in the Bible text and that's all I know for sure. The rest is just theory (i.e. young earthers believing no organism died before original sin, likewise my belief that many organisms lived and died before Adam & Eve existed just like they've done since Adam & Eve).

Maybe I'm wrong, but here's how I see things regarding plants (day 3) before sun (day 4). And if you think about it, whether young earth or old earth the same dilemma exists for light being in day 1 before sun in day 4. Unless you believe the light in day 1 was emanating directly from God -- which I guess is possibly, but God creating light from His word on day 1 seems to suggest that he used some other means besides just shining in His own glory like He did in other parts of the Bible.

Genesis 1 verse 2 says that God hovered over the deep, then repeats it again saying He hovered over the waters. To me, this repetition is enough to get our attention. I think this is verse 2's way of setting the point of view for the rest of the creation story. So imagine if you had a Dr. Who Tardis and an awesomely durable and battery-efficient GoPro camera that could kind of float around, look every direction, etc. And you went back in time billions of years to a point in time when our planet was nothing but a blob of water vapor and dust particles. At that point in time you placed the camera where you're physically at right now (which would put it in a location that was about a point that was hovering over globs of particles of water vapor and dust). Then got back in your Tardis and come back to the present, picked up the GoPro camera, and watched the past 4 billions of years at a really speedy fast forward pace. That's how I see Genesis 1 with the various things appearing in the Bible text in the order your very hypothetical GoPro camera would see them.

When God said "let there be light" on day 1 is when He thinned the atmosphere enough for light to get through, but not thin enough to see the bodies in the sky that were the sources of light (sun, moon, stars). So your GoPro camera would go from having total darkness to having some light, but it'd be like a very foggy day. Day 2 is when the water particles coalesced enough so that most of the water was collected together on the surface. Your GoPro camera would show water beneath it and water vapor/fog/atmosphere above it. Day 3 is when tectonic activity produced the land where you're at now and also had the types of soil being conditioned enough to sustain life until He used the power of His word to start plant life. What's amazing for Bible believers like you and me is that the archaeological record confirms that plant life existed before other organisms.

Day 4 is when the atmosphere had thinned enough so that if your GoPro camera was pointed up it would be able to see the sun, then further thinning of the atmosphere be able to see the moon at night, then even further thinning be able to see other stars.

Day 5 is when God created the water animals and birds. Again, our archaeological record confirms they were the next organisms to exist! Including in the order the Bible says in day 5 (fish before birds). Science is so very much our friend!

Day 6 is when God created animal life on land then created mankind. Yet again the evidence confirms it! To me this is an astounding apologetics argument for the validity of the Bible you and I believe in. To think Genesis was written 3,500 years ago and is so incredibly accurate is amazing to me! It truly is the inspired Word of God!