Deep Space Fleet

Zhang Yuan carefully observed the so-called tree core. There are some hollow screens in the middle, and the overall density is much lower than that of steel.

Yamamoto said amazingly, "These tree hearts are very good materials for the Riley civilization, providing shelter and food...but it is also a big crisis that destroys the entire ecological chain!"

He hung a bit of wood chips with a pocket knife and lit it with a lighter.

Suddenly, the whole burning phenomenon produced a faint puff of smoke.

Zhang Yuan covered his nose, smelling a burning smell of plastic, and thought deeply.

Everyone can smell this smell.

"It really looks like plastic."

"What is plastic?"

Zhang Yuan explained: "It is a polymer material that is brightened from petroleum. It is very cheap and has been widely used by earth civilization. However, after the petroleum is exhausted, it is useless and can only be converted to a large amount of renewable materials. .”

Yamamoto pressed the button again, "Have you smelled it? This kind of tree heart is a natural polymer material. Its chemical composition is somewhat similar to the plastics widely used on our planet, that is, very stable chemical substances."

An image was displayed on the screen. It was a human geographer who found a fossil vein in a plain area: a large organic mine with a reserve of 300 million tons!

"The composition of this organic mine is almost all the heart of the World Tree. Because it has been buried underground for a long time, it has become something similar to coal. It is even better than coal, and its calorific value is also higher."

Some quick-thinking biologists have already figured out why Professor Ichiro Yamamoto thinks that a mass extinction event is about to happen on this planet!

Why?

"Because these tree hearts... can't be decomposed by local microorganisms! That's why they pile up in large quantities."

Zhang Yuan was suddenly speechless in astonishment, human beings were able to witness with their own eyes... a mass extinction of creatures!

The so-called "world tree" of the Riley people is undoubtedly a very good species on this planet, providing food and living places for the Riley people.

Because of its strong ability to adapt to the environment, traces of the "World Tree" can be found in almost every corner of the planet.

But also because the "tree heart" of the world tree is too advanced in evolution, the local microorganisms are completely unable to decompose this highly stable substance.

The large number of organic mineral veins discovered by humans on the plains were formed in the original forests when other fibers rotted, and only the cores of the trees accumulated and settled underground.

Why do you say that this will cause mass extinction?

Quite simply, because the carbon cycle of the native planet is disrupted.

In the usual case of aerobic respiration, consumers inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, producers inhale carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and form a carbon cycle.

But now, a large amount of carbon has turned into the heart of the tree and sank underground, which will gradually reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants do not have enough carbon dioxide, and they die in large numbers, and then animals also die in large numbers.

The carbon dioxide concentration on this planet is about 5/1000. After millions of years, tens of millions of years, the carbon dioxide may be reduced by 60%-80%. At this time, it is difficult for plants to reproduce, and the real lethality will be produced.

A biologist sitting below asked: "There are substances that native microorganisms cannot decompose? Professor Yamamoto, are you sure that your scientific research is correct?"

This question was explained by an expert who was personally in charge of the geographical expedition: "We have found the active ingredients of tree hearts in soils all over the world... Although these substances are high-molecular organic substances, they will be turned into some fine fragments due to physical effects. However, even the decomposition speed of these fragments is extremely slow, and they can exist stably for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. This shows that the decomposers of this planet cannot effectively decompose the heart of the World Tree."

"How to put it, it's like plastic. Although small plastic particles are not poisonous, they will not be decomposed if they are buried underground for a long time. The active ingredients in the heart of the tree are even more stable than plastic and can exist for a longer period of time. .”

Zhang Yuan nodded.

This is the origin of the great crisis.

The expert continued: "Ladies and gentlemen. This kind of environmental mutation caused by the evolution of plants has not never happened on the earth..."

"2.4 billion years ago, a 'Great Oxygen Event' occurred on the earth. The Great Oxygen Event changed the composition of minerals on the earth and made it possible for animals to appear in the future."

"That is, the oxygen content of the entire planet has soared, mainly due to the substantial evolution of plants, and the formation of woody fibers, but the fungi that decompose plant fibers have not yet appeared. This has led to a sharp decrease in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air."

"A large amount of carbon was solidified and deposited underground with the life cycle of plants, so that high-quality coal was formed in the Carboniferous period, which benefited human beings born later."

"At the beginning, the ability of the earth's decomposers was not strong enough, the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dropped, and the proportion of oxygen rose sharply. In the late Carboniferous period, it reached the stage with the highest proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere in the history of the earth. The sudden change in the environment caused the mass extinction of organisms, and then produced a biological explosion."

Everyone here understands the rhetoric in this regard.

"And Riley Star is also in such a special stage. As time accumulates, more and more world trees have died, and more and more tree hearts have accumulated."

"This planet has been formed for a long time. In the atmosphere, the concentration of carbon dioxide is not too high, so where does the carbon element come from? After the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is consumed, of course it is the carbon element in the living body... Animals are born, old, sick, and die. There are more dead creatures than born, and with the destruction of the carbon cycle in the whole world, more and more carbon elements will be buried underground!"

"With the lack of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there will be fewer and fewer plants, and naturally there will be fewer and fewer animals. The concentration of oxygen will increase instead.

"The mass extinction, just like that, has begun!"

"In other words, the mass extinction has already begun, but these Laili people don't know it. After tens of millions of years, animals and plants are scarce, and a large amount of carbon elements have turned into this plastic-like substance... Theoretically, this is the case. "

Everyone sat quietly in their seats, thinking, thinking.

After the naked display of this kind of biological extinction, it is serious and full of heavy killing intent.

It comes from the killing intent of the planet itself.

This kind of murderous intent has always been slow and firm.

Even humans, as interstellar civilizations, find it difficult to stop this power from the planet itself.

...

(PS: Without the comments on the silly online games, I feel so unenthusiastic in writing!

Especially in the past few days, it was still being pushed by strong winds, but it was covered by that big red flag, which caused the increase in collections to be unsatisfactory... Ah, what a bad luck, but let's celebrate at three o'clock! )

(The National Day military parade is still quite spectacular, so I won’t publish my testimonials. I like the DF41 nuclear bomb the most. Although it can’t be used in war, having this thing means real safety!)