Why does the world need photosynthesis?

Arguably, all the energy from the Earth originates from the sun. It is through photosynthesis that the sun’s energy is captured. Photosynthesis occurs within the chloroplasts of producers. A green pigment called chlorophyll is housed within the thylakoids of the chloroplasts. The chlorophyll captures sunlight energy in order to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose (a sugar) and oxygen gas.

The glucose made through photosynthesis is the basis for all food chains, food webs, and food pyramids. Primary consumers use the glucose from photosynthesis as a direct energy source. Secondary and tertiary consumers rely on the photosynthesis by consuming organisms within lower trophic levels that consume the photosynthesizing producers. If there was no photosynthesis, the producers would not be able to produce energy and eventually perish. Thus, there would be no energy source for organisms within higher trophic levels. Therefore, the organisms of the higher trophic levels would also perish over time.