Very little escapes the plants and rises to the atmosphere. The plants then use it for food and release oxygen, much life we breath oxygen and release Carbon dioxide. The quality of our top soil determines the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. If we allow the quality of the top soil to degrade to any degree, the life it support degrades to the same degree. A source of energy Nothing can happen without energy.
Green plants are the only living things able to collect and store energy from the sun.
All other living entities must get their energy from the plants' storage systems. Science tells us that in any given area there are more types and tonnage of life forms below the ground than are living on the surface. All these creatures must have a source of energy. Chemical fertilizers contain no energy, only nutrients, and many of those nutrients are in a highly soluble form. The result is an open invitation to insects and diseases.