caramelbaloney:

So this is my attempt to describe a highly simplified carbon cycle, which seems in need of review after some general observations and conversation (though I think pyrrhosrepublic might have had an overly optimistic estimate of interest).  Unfortunately, general science education is frequently blown off, maybe because people take these vital life processes for granted.  There are more important or interesting things to worry about than processes that will continue to work without our knowledge.  Yet nearly everything is directly dependent on these processes, not just our bodily functions, but also our jobs, our resources, and even the warm glowing warming glow of the internet.  As we rapidly approach energy and climate concerns, these processes can no longer be taken for granted.  

The picture above illustrates the major biological processes that cycle carbon from atmospheric to organic forms.  It becomes easy to see that by digging up and burning fossil fuels, we are disrupting the cycle.  Up through the present, nearly all of our energy, which our technological innovations and economy are completely dependent upon, came from sunlight energy that has been concentrated over hundreds of millions of years.  And it all started with photosynthesis, which is probably my all-time favorite sequence of chemical reactions…      

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No amount of denial can change the fundamental realities of our existence on this planet.

Plus, look at those stick figure animals.