• Question: What would happen if all photosynthesis stopped simultaneously?

    Asked by rhooper821 to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 18 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 18 Jun 2013:


      We’d run out of oxygen eventually. I honestly have no idea how long this would take.

      Maybe we’d run out of fresh food first? With no photosynthesis no plants would grow, no animals would be able to eat grass or other plants. I suppose we’d have mushrooms to eat, as they fed on the decaying plant tissue!

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 18 Jun 2013:


      Plants would die, and atmospheric oxygen levels on the planet would fall, and carbon dioxide levels would rise.

      Global warming would accelerate, and most animals (including us) would die due to suffocation.

      Not a nice thought.

    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 19 Jun 2013:


      The apocalypse. No photosynthesis means no plants and without plants we’re in big trouble.

    • Photo: Susana Teixeira

      Susana Teixeira answered on 20 Jun 2013:


      We’d be doomed. Obviously photosynthetic plants would die, so they would not be able to filtre our air and give us the oxygen we need. We’d run out of food quickly too, but probably suffocate first…

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