Energy, Ecosystems, and the Environment
Energy is a really big idea that functions on a very small level. While we can spend a lot of time looking at the nitty-gritty of how energy is made and used by our bodies and why it is important—and this is really useful to understand, both because it has big implications in medicine and because it could help to influence the ways that we think about and use energy in the world around us—it’s also important to take a step back sometimes and look at the bigger picture.
The fact that plants can do photosynthesis is a really big deal. They efficiently convert energy from the sun into energy that can be used to fuel life and—unfortunately, in the form of fossil fuels—they have provided energy for really our whole world. They’re basically really efficient solar panels, and they’ve been doing a lot of good for our planet for a really long time. But, unfortunately, humans haven’t always been so kind to plants, and this has major implications for our environment.
Let’s take a… er… further back look at the importance of plants.
The fact that plants can do photosynthesis is a really big deal. They efficiently convert energy from the sun into energy that can be used to fuel life and—unfortunately, in the form of fossil fuels—they have provided energy for really our whole world. They’re basically really efficient solar panels, and they’ve been doing a lot of good for our planet for a really long time. But, unfortunately, humans haven’t always been so kind to plants, and this has major implications for our environment.
Let’s take a… er… further back look at the importance of plants.
All Life Needs Plants
Looking at the equation for photosynthesis, we see that there are two major outputs: food (sugar) and oxygen.
I don’t know about you, but I love both food and oxygen. You could dare say I need food and oxygen. In fact, this would be a very appropriate use of the word need. (Unlike when we say we “need” that cool new electronic device or fancy pair of shoes). Now a little bit of logic for you:
Premise #1: Humans need food and oxygen.
Premise #2: Plants make food and oxygen.
Conclusion: Humans need plants.
Premise #2: Plants make food and oxygen.
Conclusion: Humans need plants.
Now, you could try to poke holes in this logic. You could say, “But I don’t even eat fruits and vegetables. Only meat!” And, first, I would tell you: You should eat fruits and vegetables. They’re delicious, nutritious, and they make you feel good. Second, I’d tell you that, even when humans eat animals or animal products for their food source, the energy is ultimately coming from plants. Even if those animals ate other animals, eventually, if you trace that food chain all the way back, you will find something that ate a plant. It’s all part of the great food chain. Check out this video for more on the food chain:
All energy for life ultimately comes from the sun, and the only way we can harvest that energy into a useful biological form is through photosynthesis. Humans need plants!
Plants Combat Climate Change
Beyond playing this important role of making food for everything in our ecosystem, as well as making the oxygen that we breathe, plants are essential to maintaining a healthy, livable environment.
You may remember that we talked about climate change back in our Earth Sciences unit. Quick reminder: Climate change, also known as global warming because the Earth is getting, on the whole, hotter (even though it also causes worse storms, including winter storms, making winters colder), is very, very bad. Climate change is caused by increased amounts of greenhouse gases in the environment. Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas that is increasing due to human activity, more specifically humans burning oil, coal, and wood for energy. Climate change will eventually reach a point-of-no-return because water vapor is also a greenhouse gas, and as the Earth gets hotter, more water evaporates, which makes the Earth hotter, which makes more water evaporate, and so on and so on until we all have to flee to Mars or risk extinction of the human race. Like I said: Climate change is very, very bad.
But, plants use carbon dioxide. When plants use carbon dioxide, they remove it from the atmosphere, which is very, very good. Plants help to stop climate change. Plants could save the entire planet and the future of the human race. We like plants. Yay, plants!!!
Plants also help prevent climate change in other ways. Here’s a great video on how plants help prevent climate change:
You may remember that we talked about climate change back in our Earth Sciences unit. Quick reminder: Climate change, also known as global warming because the Earth is getting, on the whole, hotter (even though it also causes worse storms, including winter storms, making winters colder), is very, very bad. Climate change is caused by increased amounts of greenhouse gases in the environment. Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas that is increasing due to human activity, more specifically humans burning oil, coal, and wood for energy. Climate change will eventually reach a point-of-no-return because water vapor is also a greenhouse gas, and as the Earth gets hotter, more water evaporates, which makes the Earth hotter, which makes more water evaporate, and so on and so on until we all have to flee to Mars or risk extinction of the human race. Like I said: Climate change is very, very bad.
But, plants use carbon dioxide. When plants use carbon dioxide, they remove it from the atmosphere, which is very, very good. Plants help to stop climate change. Plants could save the entire planet and the future of the human race. We like plants. Yay, plants!!!
Plants also help prevent climate change in other ways. Here’s a great video on how plants help prevent climate change:
Human Activities Are Harming Plants
Unfortunately, humans are destroying plants. For one thing, deforestation, or the cutting down of forests on a massive scale, continues to be a common practice as we use the wood for things like making paper and paper products or building houses and large buildings. People also cut down forests just to make space for places to put buildings. Now, I’m not saying that wood isn’t useful or that we shouldn’t ever cut down trees. What I am saying is that we should try to use recycled products whenever possible, that we should recycle the products that we do use, and that we should try to get our wood from sustainable sources, like tree farms that plant new trees for every tree they cut down. We should also encourage our lawmakers to protect national parks and, at the very least, enforce existing policies that prevent deforestation. Lastly, we can participate in or encourage projects that plant new trees.
Humans are destroying plants in other ways, too. For example:
1. When there’s not enough water present, plants die. Careless use of water, mostly on the scale of big industrial practices that are generally bad for the environment, contributes to droughts. Beyond plants dying from the lack of water, droughts also make forest fires more likely to go out of control, which destroys lots of plants and can destroy towns, homes, and lives in the process.
2. When there aren’t enough nutrients in the soil, plants die. Many human activities, especially on the industrial scale, lead to there not being enough nutrients in the soil. For example, run-off (of wastewater plus bad stuff) from factories depletes good stuff in soil and puts bad stuff in it. This can be stopped by enforcing environmentally-friendly manufacturing practices that hold businesses accountable for what they put into the environment. Also, unsustainable farming practices like excessive use of fertilizer or insecticides can destroy the microorganisms in soil that keep it healthy and able to sustain plants. This can be stopped by using produce from farms that use sustainable practices, whenever possible, and by enforcing or enacting new laws to promote sustainable farming practices. We can also plant home gardens and practice sustainable farming for ourselves. Other activities like mining and construction also contribute to poor soil health. This can be stopped by limiting mining and construction practices and by promoting the use of more environmentally friendly construction and mining practices.
3. When there is pollution in the soil, plants die. Soil pollution is mainly the result of run-off of polluted wastewater from factories. Again, this can be stopped by enforcing environmentally friendly manufacturing practices that hold businesses accountable for what they put into the environment. We can also help by trying to buy products from companies that use these environmentally friendly manufacturing practices.
4. When there isn’t enough sunlight, plants die. A main way that humans prevent sunlight from getting to plants is by producing smog. As a reminder, smog is the gross stuff in the air that comes from burning stuff. All the same ways that we can help limit production of greenhouse gases help to limit smog and get more sunlight to plants. Greenhouse gas emissions are mostly caused on an industrial scale, but there are steps that we can take to help. Good ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include riding a bike, walking, or taking public transportation instead of driving when possible; recycling; reducing the amount of trash that you produce by using reusable products and avoiding packaging when possible; reusing cans, jars, plastic bags, etc.; turning lights off when they’re not in use; driving electric or hybrid vehicles; switching to greener energy sources, like wind, solar, and nuclear power, instead of wood, coal, and fossil fuels; and encouraging schools, businesses, and lawmakers to switch to greener energy sources.
5. When there is acid rain, plants die. As a reminder from our Atmosphere lesson, acid rain is the result of air pollution (SOXs, NOXs, and COXs, including CO₂) getting into rain droplets as these rain droplets are forming. Acid rain directly kills plants (too much acid is bad for all living things) and contributes to poor soil health, which also kills plants. Limiting acid rain is all about limiting air pollution, or smog, using methods like those described above.
Here is a great video on some of the ways that humans are impacting plants and ecosystems:
Humans are destroying plants in other ways, too. For example:
1. When there’s not enough water present, plants die. Careless use of water, mostly on the scale of big industrial practices that are generally bad for the environment, contributes to droughts. Beyond plants dying from the lack of water, droughts also make forest fires more likely to go out of control, which destroys lots of plants and can destroy towns, homes, and lives in the process.
2. When there aren’t enough nutrients in the soil, plants die. Many human activities, especially on the industrial scale, lead to there not being enough nutrients in the soil. For example, run-off (of wastewater plus bad stuff) from factories depletes good stuff in soil and puts bad stuff in it. This can be stopped by enforcing environmentally-friendly manufacturing practices that hold businesses accountable for what they put into the environment. Also, unsustainable farming practices like excessive use of fertilizer or insecticides can destroy the microorganisms in soil that keep it healthy and able to sustain plants. This can be stopped by using produce from farms that use sustainable practices, whenever possible, and by enforcing or enacting new laws to promote sustainable farming practices. We can also plant home gardens and practice sustainable farming for ourselves. Other activities like mining and construction also contribute to poor soil health. This can be stopped by limiting mining and construction practices and by promoting the use of more environmentally friendly construction and mining practices.
3. When there is pollution in the soil, plants die. Soil pollution is mainly the result of run-off of polluted wastewater from factories. Again, this can be stopped by enforcing environmentally friendly manufacturing practices that hold businesses accountable for what they put into the environment. We can also help by trying to buy products from companies that use these environmentally friendly manufacturing practices.
4. When there isn’t enough sunlight, plants die. A main way that humans prevent sunlight from getting to plants is by producing smog. As a reminder, smog is the gross stuff in the air that comes from burning stuff. All the same ways that we can help limit production of greenhouse gases help to limit smog and get more sunlight to plants. Greenhouse gas emissions are mostly caused on an industrial scale, but there are steps that we can take to help. Good ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include riding a bike, walking, or taking public transportation instead of driving when possible; recycling; reducing the amount of trash that you produce by using reusable products and avoiding packaging when possible; reusing cans, jars, plastic bags, etc.; turning lights off when they’re not in use; driving electric or hybrid vehicles; switching to greener energy sources, like wind, solar, and nuclear power, instead of wood, coal, and fossil fuels; and encouraging schools, businesses, and lawmakers to switch to greener energy sources.
5. When there is acid rain, plants die. As a reminder from our Atmosphere lesson, acid rain is the result of air pollution (SOXs, NOXs, and COXs, including CO₂) getting into rain droplets as these rain droplets are forming. Acid rain directly kills plants (too much acid is bad for all living things) and contributes to poor soil health, which also kills plants. Limiting acid rain is all about limiting air pollution, or smog, using methods like those described above.
Here is a great video on some of the ways that humans are impacting plants and ecosystems:
Summary
Plants are a major part of the solution to the very, very bad problem of climate change, and yet almost all of the things that we do that are bad for the environment (and contribute to climate change) also kill plants. That means that all that bad stuff for the environment is doubly bad. This should be a major motivation to be kind to the environment and to be kind to plants. Humans need plants, and we need them now more than ever.
You should understand:
You should understand:
- That protecting plant life and biodiversity has extreme implications for human life.
- That plants are responsible for producing oxygen and biochemical energy that are essential for human life.
- That plants are responsible for absorbing carbon dioxide and protecting against climate change in many other ways.
- That humans are destroying plants and ecosystems in many ways, which can be prevented and reversed through political change as well as some changes in our habits.
Learning Activity
Contributors: Emma Moulton, Kathleen Yu, and Eli Levine