Eventually, all live on earth only exist because of the energy from the sun. We have to look up and not down for resources to support life, our life. It is not oil, coal or gas but the sun instead. Oil, coal and gas are consequences of millions of years of many chemical processes and it took this long to change leaves and plants for example, into what it is now.
Just like dinosaur fossils, oil, gas and coal are fossils too, hence the name fossil fuels. It is an ancient form of energy produced by the sun through plants through a process called photosynthesis.
The sun gives us warmth, light and comfort. It is always there and won’t go away soon. Millions of years ago there were plants too, trees, ecosystems, and animals; all were present on the surface of the planet.
All life need some form of, what I refer here to as, sugar. Sugars are in different forms from different resources such as lactose, dextrose, fructose, raw sugar, and more. We get it from dairy products, and from plants. So basically, a plant, or a tree for that matter, is stuffed with ‘sugar’ that gives and sustains life.
The way trees produce their sugar to grow from goes through a process called photosynthesis. This is a very complex system with a lot of difficult terms and vocabulary. I try to keep it simple.
First of all we take light. We see light as ‘white’ because all the colors of the rainbow are combined. The leaves of trees are not using all the colors of the rainbow. They mainly use the (infra)red and (ultra)violet. The colors in the middle of the spectrum are reflected by the leaves and that is why leaves of trees are green. Green is the color plants use least.
Leaves are very ‘waxy’ there is a lot of moist inside the leaves. This moist is needed for a process to exchange gasses. CO2 goes in and oxygen goes out through very tiny holes, or ‘stoma’. Trees need a lot of water to keep the leaves moist and to support this gas exchanging process. Trees are, therefore, very good at taking care of the roots and keeping the soil moist as long as possible
The sun’s energy, water and CO2 are combined through a complicated process. Once they are combined they form a sugar. From this sugar carbohydrates are produced, which plants use to grow, sustain themselves and to reproduce. Eventually is it the part of the plant we also eat as it is rich in carbohydrates. Think about a potato for example, that’s the part of a plant stuffed with carbohydrates we consume.
The sugar in the trees itself is also for human consumption. The maple tree is a good example. Through a process we are able to extract the sugars from it and turn it into a syrup.
Life sustains life. It comes from above, from the energy of the sun, and through photosynthesis life has been able to develop to where it is now.
Once a year all trees change leaves. That has been an ever ongoing process. All the energy of the sun gave life millions of years ago and all the fallen leaves completed their function. Nature buried them deep underground to stay.
We have to look up and enjoy all the possibilities the sun is giving us.
Daniel Arendzen 