We get most of our Oxygen from the Ocean (Marine Plants)

This is a quick & simple post about a fact that, apparently, a lot of people don't realize. A couple days ago I made a comment on a person's post that was talking about leaves and trees and how we are killing off our oxygen supply. When I mentioned that we get most of our oxygen from the ocean, (but fear not because man is also busy destroying that, as well) a few people seemed shocked and didn't realize this relatively simple factoid.

Most estimates range between 70 to 80% of our oxygen comes from marine plants and whatnot. I have heard claims of up to 85% (maybe they added the freshwater plants, too?), but let's not get carried away. The point is, the majority of our oxygen comes from oceanic means. People would be surprised how much basic algae and phytoplankton produces, to say the least.

So, when we are talking about deforestation, when can also talk about the potential rises in atmospheric CO2 albeit those Global Warming debates can get a bit fussy; ha! But seriously, when it comes to deforestation, the first two things that come to my mind are the habitats for life that are destroyed during the process along with potential cures for diseases that could be found in the rainforest, for example. I mention the rainforest because it is massive, teeming with life, and is well known to suffer from ongoing deforestation. But whatever you want to deservingly complain about, don't say we are destroying all of our oxygen by cutting down a bunch of trees. *sigh*

To break away from the ocean and marine plants thing, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about the discovery of this element: "Oxygen was isolated by Michael Sendivogius before 1604, but it is commonly believed that the element was discovered independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in Uppsala, in 1773 or earlier, and Joseph Priestley in Wiltshire, in 1774. Priority is often given for Priestley because his work was published first. Priestley, however, called oxygen "dephlogisticated air," and did not recognize it as a chemical element. The name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, who first recognized oxygen as a chemical element and correctly characterized the role it plays in combustion." I must ask, what in the hell is dephlogisticated air? I think he thought it was the part that didn't burn or did burn? I don't know, it sounds more like a scientific term for chronic bloating if ya ask me; ha-ha!

Well, that's all I'm typing about this Kindergarten subject for today; cheers!

Image Credit: It is found in the Public Domain and is not under copyright.

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