That's it! On Apollo 13 had they just brought a few plants, they might not have had the carbon dioxide dilemma! You should be working with NASA, Element. You could have solved that problem instantly! ;) All the trees, plants, and animals that live in them should be afraid. There certainly is no lack of CO2 but because we are invading on their territory. I am afraid for them. We are hogging all the oxygen, too.
Schematics and logistics. I know you are right, Stu. It was simply a fun thought. Don and I had watched Apollo 13 the night before. It was that which promoted the quick-fix I came up with in hopes of making Element and everyone else who read my answer a quirky, unrealistic smile. It didn't look like they had room for nary a living plant, either.. Maybe some plankton but how would it swim in water? Please don't answer that. It wouldn't work. I'm just "Reaching for the Stars." Love ya Stu! :) :)
If I remember my biology lectures correctly, plants only "absorb" CO2 during daylight hours. At night they "use" oxygen just like we do.
Plants are nature's air scrubbers. The fact that some produce edible fruits and some are edible themselves in addition to being air scrubbers is utterly amazing.
Yes. It simply takes sunlight to do so. It's not just trees and such that make oxygen, but algae (ocean). More sunlight hits the oceans than the land. Therefore the amount of oxygen plants use at night is negligible in the long run. Just know that that plant in your house will use some oxygen at night
Before everyone goes out and removes their plants, please note that plants give off water (transpire) - somewhere in the order of a 1,000 gallons/day (30,000 for a large tree). That Helps regulate temperature and humidity (one reason why it's so arid where there are no plants).
Think about this: Before animals appeared, the lands were covered by vegetation. Over many eons, the atmosphere became saturated with oxygen emitted from plants; the seas as well. This abundance infused the rise of oxygen-breathing animal life. Everywhere. For millions of years, the trees and flora filtered the air and manufactured oxygen. Enter man. Cutting down trees, burning down forests, clearing large regions. Trillions of trees now gone. Burning oil and coal at unprecedented levels. The oxygen balance is gone. Co2 is flooding the biosphere with an ever-decreasing fraction of the greenery left to filter it.
In the long view, we are screwed. A recently released international study of the earth‘s biology concluded that a million species are in peril of extinction, within the next two or three decades. After we’re all extinct, the plants will take over again. The circle of life, my friends.
This post was edited by Don Barzini at May 23, 2019 1:15 PM MDT
Now, I AM cracking up!!!!! :D! :D! Why? You may ask.... Because in order for me to cut and paste the Bob Marley, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" song under Baba, I had to grab my hand-written notes off the refrigerator that ALF had given me 4 times before I got it! I wonder where ALF went. I hope he grouped up with his TV stars. He was a huge asset while here. As are you! :) :) You do wear a very different face that very few could appreciate.... But, I trust you. :) :)
This post was edited by Merlin at May 23, 2019 5:45 PM MDT
Not at all. Plants do use oxygen, but they create and breathe out far more of it than they use. They absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into their fibres. Grasses, as they rot and grow over previous layers, help to sequester CO2 in the soils, thereby making them more fertile. Algae in the oceans perform similar functions, but with global warming have already nearly died out and need human help to get re-established.
I'm not sure about your first statement. That's why I asked the question. I can do the chemistry, but entropy gets in the way. I know an expert...a biochemist, who I will consult.
All green plants use light to convert carbon dioxide and water into energy stores of carbohydrates and sugars that can later be used to fuel growth and reproduction. The by-product of this process is oxygen, which expires through the leaves as a waste product. This process, called photosynthesis, produces and maintains most of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere, which in turn fuels the muscle metabolism for movement in all animals.
I'm pretty sure you've known this since your school and university science days, Mr Eistenium.
This post was edited by inky at May 23, 2019 9:42 PM MDT
I checked with my expert. The net amount of oxygen given off by plants compared to that which is used by them is zero. In other words, the plants giveth, then taketh away oxygen in equal amounts. This is a global average and varies slightly by region. Phytoplankton are the planets major producer of oxygen, as well as the largest sink for CO2. They...and land plants maintain the balance between CO2 and oxygen. The true answer is much more complex and books could be written about it. (I think they already have.) Thanks for your input...It made me do more research.
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 