What sorcery is this?  Photosynthesis.
Is it something that we missed?  Photosynthesis.

Wait a second.  What in the heck do plants eat?  I have never one time seen a plant scarfing down on an In-N-Out hamburger.  They just sit there!  They don’t do anything!  Do they eat juice drinks?  No!  Bananas?  No!  Waffles?  No!  Salad?  Ugh!  That’d be like cannibalism or something!  This might blow your mind, but most plants don’t eat anything.

All right, let’s cut to the chase.  There are always exceptions when it comes to dealing with nature, but on this planet, most plants get their energy from a chemical process called photosynthesis.  You and I need to eat food to make energy.  But plants are different.  They get their energy from a mixture of sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide…which conveniently is what humans exhale.  Don’t even get me started on automobiles.

Grow!  Grow!  Grow!  Grow!  

So, plants take in sunlight and carbon dioxide from their leaves, and water and nutrients from their roots.  With these four ingredients and photosynthesis, they create all the energy they need.  Comically, plants then produce oxygen as a waste product.  You know, oxygen...the stuff we have to breathe every few seconds.  The importance of plants on this planet, to the cycle of life can not be overstated.  It's like a miracle.  

There are a couple last things I want to mention.  First, there are carnivorous plants that would eat In-N-Out hamburger.  But those plants still use photosynthesis.   Secondly, I was gonna make a joke that you should go hug a tree, 'cause they're so awesome, and something about bell bottoms, but I've changed my mind.  What we really need to talk about here at the end is phytoplankton.  Phytoplankton are tiny, mostly microscopic plants that live in the ocean.  And scientists think they produce anywhere from fifty to eighty-five percent of the world’s oxygen.  Wow!