Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to study the kinetics of graphite gasification by oxidation and the morphology of platinum catalyzed hydrogen reaction. The graphite sample is heated conventionally for long‐term measurement at low to moderate temperatures, or by laser with millisecond exposure times at high temperatures. The oxidation of graphite takes place on step edges, domain boundaries and on individual dislocation or impurity sites on terraces. The reaction at individual reaction sites on the terraces leads either to removal of ‘‘disks’’ of graphite two monolayers deep, or to removal of cones of graphite. The reactivity of a particular site is determined (over twelve orders of magnitude) by measuring the edge’s recession velocity at the site. The rate of gasification of graphite by ozone is orders of magnitude higher than gasification by oxygen in air at a given temperature. Clusters of platinum deposited on graphite act as catalysts to dissociate molecular hydrogen and thus enhance the gasification. Discrete clusters stay with the receding carbon site, resulting in channels on the graphite surface.