Life became much better for algae. So yes.
this post was submitted on 24 May 2026
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No. They killed themselves off to near extinction several times as the planet repeatedly froze over.
Can you explain this to me please?
M understanding is that photosynthesis takes CO2, binds the c to the plant and emits O. (Basically)
How does that lead to extinction of algae? Like, depleting the carbon resources?
The Great Oxidation Event had atmospheric greenhouse gas levels plummet, which resulted in the young and comparatively weak sun not being able to keep the planet warm, resulting in the Huronian glaciation.
there are 3 sources of energy on the surface of earth:
- energy from inside earth (geological heat)
- energy from the moon (tides can make water go up and down -> generates energy)
- energy from the sun (and hypothetically, other stars)
so, the thing is that earth's internal heat generates 0.03% of the energy on the surface of Earth (source) while i couldn't find any numbers for the moon (so i guess it's too low to mention). so basically everything comes from the sun.
and this is true for living beings. living beings can live off the sun's energy (photosynthesis) or they don't, in which case they're utilizing Earth's internal processes (volcanoes, ...) as an energy source.
basically all life was dependent on energy from inside the Earth before photosynthesis was developed, which is severely restricted. this is why this is such a big breakthrough.
They were the first life forms to alter their atmosphere extensively enough to wipe themselves out. There will be a second soon.
The next one will be me when I finish my killer aioli sauce
Trees did it during the Devonian era if I'm not mistaken. This will be at least the third time it's happened.
Did a bunch of trees go extinct because of it? I haven’t heard of that.