In a few weeks, spring will arrive with a profusion of plant growth—buds will burst and seemingly overnight, leaves will expand to their summer fullness. Containing chlorophyll, leaves conduct photosynthesis, the combination of carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates, known as sugars, which are the basis of life on Earth.
As the bumper sticker reads, we should thank a green plant today. Jed Sparks, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, says we should thank them for the food and fiber that they supply to our daily lives…
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that every single bit of life on earth is dependent upon photosynthesis. Every piece of food that you eat – regardless of whether animal, vegetable, anything – that energy is ultimately derived through photosynthesis.”
We also can thank plants of long ago for furnishing our economy with coal and oil. Without green plants, modern society would be very different.
But, green plants perform other services for us as well, such as cleansing the atmosphere. When a plant is photosynthesizing, tiny pores on the surface of the leaf are open, to take in carbon dioxide. They also take in a variety of other gases, including some that are serious air pollutants, such as ozone and nitric oxide.
So, thank a green plant today. Not just for the food we eat and the clothing we wear, but for the clean air that we breathe every day.
Web Extra
Full interview with Jed Sparks, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University…
[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/sparks_edited_extra.mp3|titles=sparks_edited_extra]Photo, taken on July 6, 2009, courtesy of Corey Harmon via Flickr.