Since photosynthesis traps light energy, knowledge about the nature of light energy and about the two main phases of photosynthesis is necessary to understand energy flow in the biosphere. One of the phases of photosynthesis traps light energy and converts it to ATP and energized electron carriers. A second phase then transfers this chemical energy to carbon dioxide from the air and in the process, synthesizes sugars and other high-energy carbohydrates. This marvelous metabolic feat accounts for the cellulose that constitutes most of the plant bodies standing all around us. It also supplies the nutrients that power all plant, animal, fungal, and most microbial activity.
Photosynthesis is truly central to life on earth.
Some ecologists fear that this may change our farm environments and natural landscapes in ways that are unpredictable, undesirable, or, likely, both. Another aspect of photosynthesis is the cycling of carbon atoms between organisms and the nonliving world in a massive global exchange.