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That's not how it works, sadly. Oil and coal got created in a time where there where no microbes that could break down trees, so dead trees just built up over m
by panzi 3y ago
That's not how it works, sadly. Oil and coal got created in a time where there where no microbes that could break down trees, so dead trees just built up over millions of years and when buried slowly turned into oil and coal. Nowadays there are microbes that break down dead wood, so besides that it would take an enormous amount of time for plants to suck out enough CO2, it would also not stay out of the atmosphere. Unless you start cutting down trees and storing them in some underground caves in conditions where they don't rot or something. A huge and very slow effort.
- junofan 3y agoCommon myth. Millions of years of tree growth would have taken the earth to ~0 ppm CO2, preventing plant life. There were likely organisms other than white rot fungi that broke down lignin. Most petroleum formation occurred from dead diatom sediments on the sea floor.