What part does unburnt coal, oil & gas play in the natural environment?

Question

Coal, oil & gas tends to get thought about and described in accordance with the use human beings have lately had for them. Therefore we call them fossil fuels or just simply resources. This is like calling trees timber or animals meat. It does nothing to describe their function or role in the natural environment. We know the earth operates as a holistic system, everything in the system fulfills a function that is vital to the whole system. So, not thinking, for the moment, about the effects of burning all this "fuel", what part does unburnt coal, oil & gas play in the natural environment?

Answer 1

Lin is spot on - this is a philosophical question.

When we talk of environment we generally mean short term (a  geological sense) interactions with other components of the ecosphere.

Unburnt hydrocarbons play the same role in the natural environment as granite or nitrogen: They are part of the physical structure but otherwise don't play much of a role in the short term.

I would challenge (if this was in religion and philosophy!) your statements:

"We know the earth operates as a holistic system"

Do we know? How? Does the Earth 'operate' or does it merely 'exist'? Is it a 'system' or are you confusing the eco- or bio-sphere (the interconnected living part of our planet) with the dead, physical structure?

"Everything in the system fulfills a function that is vital to the whole system"

Really? 'Vital' suggests a purpose, an objective - essentially subscribing to the Gaia hypothesis. I would concur that everything is a factor, but maybe not a function. I would also debate whether it is a system (implying order, intelligence, meaning) or an equilibrium of random components.

Answer 2

they dont play any part in the short term. sometimes they can be released but  the majority of the time they will stay out of the biosphere.

Answer 3

None at all and if it were not for the fear of running out of product to sell for ever higher profits we would not have the current AGW scare mongers creating a chicken little sky is falling panic to enhance their profits even more. I say find other useful alternatives to oil and coal so their profits reduce to nothing because there is no more market for their products. But as long as the democrats are able to maintain the restrictions Jimmy Carter put in place 30 years ago they will continue to have ever growing profits. Until the Democratic Party becomes as small and insignificant as the green party this of course will never happen!

Answer 4

Most of the time it is too far underground to effect anything living.  There are a few places with exposed coal seams I suppose it does something to the plants and animals there.

Answer 5

its there for us to burn, which goes up into the air, then the ocean, plants, suck it in, and some of it just settles into the ground.

then it sinks into the ground, where it is converten into more coal and oil by sulphur, hydrogen, enzymes, and high heat.

Answer 6

as long as we don't burn it the carbon will remain in the ground out of the atmosphere.they serve no purpose under ground .........tom

Answer 7

<<We know the earth operates as a holistic system, everything in the system fulfills a function that is vital to the whole system.>>

only in the broadest sense.

for example, several thousand pounds of space dust fell to the earth today, and every day.

that dust does increase the mass of the planet a wee bit.

but not enough to notice.

now i know some folks think that everything's connected, and serves a purpose.

if you were to ask me, the purpose might be to make the scale you stand on read 150 #s.

other than that, there's quite a lot of stuff that does pretty much nothing.

coal, oil, and gas that's buried is the same.

it exists.

it may some day be burned, or used in some other way.

but until that time, it just  "is".

it does, of course, store some carbon.

but i suspect that there's lots more within the earth.

you could argue that had that not formed, then there would be more CO2 in the atmosphere.

and that's likely true.

on the other hand, some of it would have been incorporated into kelp and other sea plants that sank when they died, and are part of the several miles of sediment at the bottom of the oceans.

so, if you'd like to ascribe a purpose to coal and oil, you're welcome to do so.

however, i might suggest in that case, the question might more properly belong in the R+S, or the philosophy section.

have a nice day.

Answer 8

There is very good information on N.A.S.A's website:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/index.h...

This is also of interest:

http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov/ClimateTimeM...