Photosynthesis: Beneficial Chemical Reactions

Photosynthesis, undoubtedly, is one of the most beneficial chemical reactions, for one simple fact. It keeps us alive. It is a simple, unassuming reaction, 6 CO2+ 6 H2O → C6H12O6+ 6 O2. So, it is just carbon dioxide and water reacting and turning into glucose and oxygen. “But,” you may ask, “Why is it so important?” It is because it takes our used air (CO2) and turns it back into the air we breathe (O2). Photosynthesis also turns our extra carbon dioxide into oxygen, reducing global warming's effects. Oxygen in the atmosphere keeps it at a stable pressure. It also can react with itself to create ozone, keeping UV-A and B rays from burning our skin. It also, in the atmosphere, reacts with other elements to oxidize and keep ratios of elements the same in the atmosphere. Also, oxygen destroys methane, which is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases. Oxygen in the atmosphere also promotes growth of all animals or keeps them small, so we don't have huge cockroaches and spider-like insects like the when the dinosaurs existed.

Now, every human uses ~24 metric tons of O2 a year, and let’s say that the population hovers around seven billion people. That gives us about 168,000,000,000 tons of O2 not being replenished a year, at an optimistic estimate. 1,068,000,000,000,000 tons of O2 are in the atmosphere currently. At 17% O2, anoxia occurs, which causes organ and brain damage. So, if no other animals existed besides humans, it would take 445 years for all oxygen to be depleted. But, factoring in all biomass, it would take less than one hundred years for almost all humans to die. The first signs would be dizziness and confusion, following by sickness, ending in death. This process would be dragged out, torturing everything on Earth until they