Respiration and Photosynthesis by Donna Latham

These fuels not only provide much of the energy used in factories, homes, and transportation but also serve as the raw material for plastics and other synthetic products. There, protected from oxidation, these organic remains were slowly converted to fossil fuels. In past ages, green plants and small organisms that fed on plants increased faster than they were consumed, and their remains were deposited in Earth’s crust by sedimentation and other geological processes. The only organisms able to exist under such conditions would be the chemosynthetic bacteria, which can utilize the chemical energy of certain inorganic compounds and thus are not dependent on the conversion of light energy.Įnergy produced by photosynthesis carried out by plants millions of years ago is responsible for the fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, and gas) that power industrial society. Most organisms would disappear, and in time Earth’s atmosphere would become nearly devoid of gaseous oxygen. If photosynthesis ceased, there would soon be little food or other organic matter on Earth.

It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of photosynthesis in the maintenance of life on Earth. During photosynthesis in green plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. Photosynthesis, the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy.

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Respiration and Photosynthesis by Donna Latham