• Question: what happens if photosynthesis never existed

    Asked by 349furk37 to Chris, Joanne, Kathryn, Kieran, Sarah on 14 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Kathryn Schoenrock

      Kathryn Schoenrock answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      Well… there are organisms that use elements from their environment other than light to create energy- these are chemo-trophs. So they can live in the deep see and use sulfur to create energy that then is transfered up the food chain just as plant energy is. If we had no phototrophs or chemotrophs to make our energy I expect food chains would not exist and we would have a very simple planet with fewer creatures.

    • Photo: Sarah Guerin

      Sarah Guerin answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      Yes there would be so much less life, if photosynthesis stopped today the air would get so much dirtier accelerating global warming, and most plants and trees would not be alive- though if photosynthesis never existed plants might have evolved a different way to survive.

    • Photo: Chris Werner

      Chris Werner answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      There would be so much less alive, and the food chain and structure as we know it wouldn’t exist. Think how many plant eating animals there are, who need the plants which grow by photosynthesis. Nearly all of them. Kathryn makes a good point about the deep sea creatures and also some bacteria in pitch black caves, needing nutrients to survive. So a lot less life, but as Dr. Malcolm once said in Jurassic Park…life will find a way!

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