Critical Focus | From Pond Life to Powerhouse
THE MICROSCOPE
2025, Volume 72:2, pp. 86–96
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/TPCI4745
AUTHOR
Brian J. Ford
EXCERPT
We all know the algae, yet taxonomists do not recognize them as a legitimate group, even though algae are the single most important class of organisms on Earth. The oxygen on which we survive? Created by algae. The limestone which defines our landscape, and from which we have created our finest buildings, from the pyramids of Giza to the Empire State Building? Algae. What absorbs much of that extra carbon dioxide and helps to regulate the global climate? The algae. What gives birth to the food web of all life in the oceans, helps to purify water, produces biofuels, and is one of the fastest-growing health-food sectors in the world? Algae, of course. Every living creature on Earth depends upon green plants – and how did they become green? You guessed it.
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