Jump to content

Talk:Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki Education assignment: EEB 4611-Biogeochemical Processes-Spring 2024

[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2024 and 11 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Floralepe (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by LynSchwendy (talk) 03:29, 14 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Removed section on photosynthesis

[edit]

This is a bold move but I don't think we need all this text about photosynthesis here, so I have removed it. Photosynthesis is part of the carbon cycle and is mentioned above. Details about photosynthesis belong at photosynthesis and not in this article. This is the text that I've removed:

Photosynthesis

Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is essential to life and to most of the planetary biosphere. The average rate of energy capture by photosynthesis globally is approximately 130 terawatts,[1][2][3] which is about six times larger than the current power consumption of human civilization.[4] Photosynthetic organisms also convert around 100–115 billion metric tonnes of carbon into biomass per year.[5][6]

Photosynthetic organisms are photoautotrophs, which means that they are able to synthesize food directly from CO2 and water using energy from light. However, not all organisms that use light as a source of energy carry out photosynthesis, since photoheterotrophs use organic compounds, rather than CO2, as a source of carbon.[7] In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis releases oxygen. This is called oxygenic photosynthesis. Although there are some differences between oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, the overall process is quite similar in these organisms. Some types of bacteria, however, carry out anoxygenic photosynthesis, which consumes CO2 but does not release oxygen.[citation needed]

Carbon dioxide is converted into sugars in a process called carbon fixation. Carbon fixation is an endothermic redox reaction, so photosynthesis needs to supply both the source of energy to drive this process and the electrons needed to convert CO2 into a carbohydrate. This addition of the electrons is a reduction reaction. In general outline and in effect, photosynthesis is the opposite of cellular respiration, in which glucose and other compounds are oxidized to produce CO2 and water, and to release exothermic chemical energy to drive the organism's metabolism. The two processes take place through a different sequence of chemical reactions, however, and in different cellular compartments.[citation needed] EMsmile (talk) 15:13, 4 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ Nealson KH, Conrad PG (December 1999). "Life: past, present and future". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 354 (1392): 1923–39. doi:10.1098/rstb.1999.0532. PMC 1692713. PMID 10670014.
  2. ^ Whitmarsh J, Govindjee (1999). "The photosynthetic process". In Singhal GS; Renger G; Sopory SK; Irrgang KD; Govindjee (eds.). Concepts in photobiology: photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 11–51. ISBN 978-0-7923-5519-9. Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2014. 100 x 1015 grams of carbon/year fixed by photosynthetic organisms which is equivalent to 4 x 1018 kJ/yr = 4 x 1021J/yr of free energy stored as reduced carbon; (4 x 1018 kJ/yr) / (31,556,900 sec/yr) = 1.27 x 1014 J/yr; (1.27 x 1014 J/yr) / (1012 J/sec / TW) = 127 TW.
  3. ^ Steger U, Achterberg W, Blok K, Bode H, Frenz W, Gather C, Hanekamp G, Imboden D, Jahnke M, Kost M, Kurz R, Nutzinger HG, Ziesemer T (2005). Sustainable development and innovation in the energy sector. Berlin: Springer. p. 32. ISBN 978-3-540-23103-5. Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-03-14. The average global rate of photosynthesis is 130 TW (1 TW = 1 terawatt = 1012 watt).
  4. ^ "World Consumption of Primary Energy by Energy Type and Selected Country Groups, 1980–2004". Energy Information Administration. 31 July 2006. Archived from the original (XLS) on 9 November 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  5. ^ Field CB, Behrenfeld MJ, Randerson JT, Falkowski P (July 1998). "Primary production of the biosphere: integrating terrestrial and oceanic components". Science. 281 (5374): 237–40. Bibcode:1998Sci...281..237F. doi:10.1126/science.281.5374.237. PMID 9657713. Archived from the original on 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  6. ^ "Photosynthesis". McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. Vol. 13. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2007. ISBN 978-0-07-144143-8.
  7. ^ Bryant DA, Frigaard NU (November 2006). "Prokaryotic photosynthesis and phototrophy illuminated". Trends Microbiol. 14 (11): 488–96. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2006.09.001. PMID 16997562.

EMsmile (talk) 15:13, 4 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]