Importance of Photosynthesis Essays - Biology, Photosynthesis

Importance of Photosynthesis All life on Earth depends directly or indirectly on the suns energy; however plants are the only ones capable of capturing and converting solar energy into chemical energy. This is called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is very important to survival on Earth, if it were to stop the oxygen in the atmosphere would start to deplete. There are steps for photosynthesis to take place such as capturing the energy form the sun, using the energy, and building carbohydrates. The sun is the source of energy that the plants use to perform photosynthesis. Green plants or "autotrophs" can provide their own food because they have an energy capturing substance called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is what gives the plants the green pigment of the stems and leaves and is able to absorb light. The next step is when plants use the energy to make ATP and an energy carrying compound called NADPH. ATP is made when protons flow through a protein channel as excited electrons from chlorophyll lose energy passing through carries in the thylakoid membrane, then the energy is used to pump protons across the membrane into the thylakoid membrane. As the protons exit the channel, the thylakoid adds phosphate group to the molecule making ATP. These electrons then accept more light and then attach to NADP forming NADPH.ATP and NADPH are used to power the next step of the photosynthesis process. Building carbohydrates is the final step in the photosynthesis and it is when carbo n atoms are captured from the carbon dioxide in the air. Which are used to make organic molecules such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins needed for energy and growth. This process regenerates its starting molecule so that it basically is a series of steps that forms a cycle. Photosynthesis is important for all life on Earth, humans, plants, and animals. This is because the process of photosynthesis produces oxygen for us to breathe and survive, while plants need carbon dioxide. Respiration in animals, humans produces carbon dioxide and this is why plants and trees are so important to our planet. We need each other to survive and thrive. If the photosynthesis process were to abruptly stop all the oxygen in the atmosphere would deplete in a few thousand years. All life on earth depends on photosynthesis to some extent. Photosynthesis is needed for the survival and isn't a too complicated system, however is only capable through plants. We need it for food, energy and warmth. There may be only three steps but they are very important and much needed.

Life of Margaret Paston, English Matriarch

Life of Margaret Paston, English Matriarch Margaret Paston (also known as  Margaret Mautby Paston) is noted for her strength and fortitude as an English wife born in the Middle Ages, who took on her husbands duties while he was away and held her family together through disastrous events. Margaret Paston was born in 1423 to a prosperous landowner in Norfolk. She was chosen by William Paston, an even more prosperous landowner and lawyer, and his wife Agnes, as a suitable wife for their son John. The young couple met for the first time in April 1440, after the match had been arranged, and they were wed sometime before December 1441. Margaret frequently managed her husbands properties when he was away and even faced armed forces who physically ejected her from the household.   Her ordinary yet extraordinary life  would be almost completely unknown to us but for the Paston Family Letters, a collection of documents that span more than 100 years in the lives of the Paston family. Margaret wrote 104 of the letters, and through these and the responses she received, we can easily gauge her standing in the family, her relationships with her in-laws, husband and children, and, of course, her state of mind. Events both catastrophic and mundane are also revealed in the letters, as is the Paston familys relationships with other families and their status in society. Although the bride and groom had not made the choice, the marriage was apparently a happy one, as the letters clearly reveal: I pray you that you will wear the ring with the image of St. Margaret that I sent you for a remembrance till you come home. You have left me such a remembrance that makes me to think upon you both day and night when I would sleep. -Letter from Margaret to John, Dec. 14, 1441 The remembrance would be born sometime before April and was only the first of seven children to live to adulthood- another sign of, at the very least, enduring sexual attraction between Margaret and John. But the bride and groom were frequently separated, as John went away on business and Margaret, quite literally, held down the fort. This was not at all unusual, and for the historian, it was somewhat fortuitous, as it afforded the couple opportunities to communicate by letters that would outlast their marriage by several centuries. The first conflict that Margaret endured took place in 1448 when she took residence in the manor of Gresham. The property had been purchased by William Paston, but Lord Moleyns laid claim to it, and while John was away in London Moleyns forces violently ejected Margaret, her men-at-arms and her household. The damage they did to the property was extensive, and John submitted a petition to the king (Henry VI) in order to get recompense, but Moleyns was too powerful and did not pay. The manor was ultimately restored in 1451. Similar events took place in the 1460s when the Duke of Suffolk raided Hellesdon and the Duke of Norfolk besieged Caister Castle. Margarets letters show her steely resolve, even as she entreats her family for assistance: I greet you well, letting you know that your brother and his fellowship stand in great jeopardy at Caister, and lack vitual . . . and the place is sore broken by the guns of the other party; so that, unless they have hasty help, they are like to lose both their lives and the place, to the greatest rebuke to you that ever came to any gentleman, for every man in this country marvels greatly that you suffer them to be so long in such great jeopardy without help or other remedy. -Letter from Margaret to her son John, Sept. 12, 1469 Margarets life was not all turmoil. She also involved herself, as was common, in the lives of her grown children. She mediated between her eldest and her husband when the two fell out: I understand . . . that you do not want your son to be taken into your house, nor helped by you . . . For Gods sake, sir, have pity on him, and remember you it hath been a long season since he had anything of you to help him with, and he hath obeyed him to you, and will do at all times, and will do what he can or may to have your good fatherhood . . . -Letter from Margaret to John, April 8, 1465 She also opened negotiations for her second son (also named John) and several prospective brides, and when her daughter entered into an engagement without Margarets knowledge, she threatened to put her out of the house. (Both children were ultimately wed in apparently stable marriages.) Margaret lost her husband in 1466, and how she may have reacted historians known little about since John had been her closest literary confidant. After 25 years of successful marriage, it is likely fair to assume her grief was deep, but Margaret had shown her mettle in dire straits and was ready to endure for her family. By the time she was sixty, Margaret began showing signs of serious illness, and in February 1482, she was persuaded to make a will. Much of its content sees to the welfare of her soul and that of her family after her death; she left money to the Church for the saying of masses for herself and her husband, as well as instructions for her burial. But she was also generous to her family and even made bequests to the servants.

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Global Warming - Research Paper Example The causes of global warming appear to be an increase in carbon dioxide and other pollutants that collect in the earth’s atmosphere and trap the sun’s heat causing the earth to become warmer. These pollutants can come from a variety of sources such as aerosols, automobiles and industrial factories. Scientists from all over the globe have found evidence that global warming began approximately 18,000 years ago giving credibility to the argument that global warming may also be attributed to natural evolution. Some scientists have found that a majority of the global warming effect is the result of the human race and how it has treated the environment though there is debate on what has caused global warming as well as the severity of the issue. Over the course of the earth’s history, there have been changes in climate and temperature so while a change may not initially seem to be unusual, the increase in average temperature has occurred faster then at any other know t ime period. However, there is agreement that regardless of cause, global warming is having an adverse effect on the environment. Some of these more obvious effects are the increase in wild fires, droughts, dust storms and the decline of the Arctic polar ice cap. Unless changes are made such as more efficient use of energy, this damage to the earth and its atmosphere will continue at an alarming rate. There is not much debate as to the need to slow down this process and many methods for protecting the environment have been introduced, but while this may slow down the impact of Global Warming it is unclear if the effects that have already taken place can be reversed. Environmental change is not new and extreme climate changes, such as the Ice Age, have occurred throughout the Earth’s history without human intervention. These changes not only alter the atmosphere but also modify life on earth. One of the more commonly discussed concerns is what is known