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Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen come from the air, and are infinitely distributed around the earth via the atmosphere. Calcium and Potassium aren't.
by kenneth 5y ago
Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen come from the air, and are infinitely distributed around the earth via the atmosphere. Calcium and Potassium aren't.
- eru 5y agoYes, they got dig up somewhere. (Or you could filter them out of seawater.) I don't see any conceptual difference. The atmosphere ain't actually infinite.
- hutzlibu 5y ago" Calcium and Potassium aren't." But they are allmost unlimited in the ground. A intact forest, with deep roots in symbiosis with lots of fungi and other microorganisms retrieves them and make them avaiable to the rest of the forest via leave fall. So taking out some trees at a time is sustainable. Chopping down all of them, is not.
- rini17 5y agoPhosphorus would be better example. Even if you take only part of organic matter away, as long as it's faster than phosphorus availability from rock weathering, there's going to be a reckoning eventually. Sure it can be added via fertilizer...if we'll be able to source such a quantity. It's not very abundant.