Ecosystems: Energy Flow and Fragile Cycles

You are literally powered by the sun and recycled dinosaur breath. An ecosystem is

just a massive energy relay race. Plants grab solar energy, herbivores eat the

plants, and predators eat the herbivores. But the system is brutal because ninety

percent of that energy is wasted as heat at every single step. That is why top

predators are so rare while grass is everywhere. Meanwhile, nature recycles

every drop of water and atom of carbon in a perfect loop. We are the only species that creates

waste nature cannot digest. We need to stop breaking the machinery that keeps us alive.