190 – Carbon

For those interested in future beach walk topics, visit the Topics List page, then scroll the list to see the topics identified as New (N).

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

I encounter shells, jellyfish, dead fish, and occasional strands of seaweed scattered across the sand. I see a fisherman reeling in live fish, and another fisherman placing shrimp on a hook as bait – all under the watchful eye of a patient heron. A variety of birds are doing their daily business of looking for food in the water or the sand. I might see a few crabs dead or alive, or even dolphins swimming.

I’ve mentioned living or once-living things because I’m focusing on something deeper. That is, life as we know it – something called carbon-based life forms.

Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

I think about carbon, the fourth most abundant element by mass in the universe after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. With the symbol C on the Periodic Table and atomic number 6, its ability to share electrons allows it to form millions of different chemical compounds. So many that carbon is the foundation for the entire field of organic chemistry.

I think about carbon and its role in living things. Carbon combines with oxygen and hydrogen to make carbohydrates (including the ones we know as sugars). Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen also form the foundation of proteins and fats – some even alcohol – then add nitrogen (and sometimes sulfur) to the carbon-hydrogen-oxygen mix to make DNA, RNA, antibiotics, amino acids, and more.

I think about carbon in plants – the foundation of cellulose, an important structural carbohydrate for plants – therefore carbon is an important component in cotton, hemp, and numerous fabrics. We also know cellulose as an indigestible dietary fiber. One cannot forget starch as the plant’s reserve food supply which is also a nutritional source for us. Yes, carbon is in starch.

I think about the importance of carbon in plants and animals in the sea that I see – but they are the plants and animals I seldom see. Their needs are very similar to the living things on land.

Photo by Hung Tran on Pexels.com

I think of carbon and its different forms as charcoal, graphite, diamonds, coal, and inks and toners.

I think of carbon as an important filtering component in water purification, numerous home filters, and gas masks because carbon helps absorb odors, impurities, gasses, and poisons.

I think about carbon moving from organism to organism. Carbon is involved in plants making their food, all living things releasing energy from food, all living things producing the new molecules they need, and bacteria decomposing materials.

I think about carbon as a fuel source. After all, carbon is in coal, gasoline, methane, butane, propane, octane, kerosene, natural gas, paraffin, and others.

I think about carbon and its vital component in plastics, lubricants, refrigerants, and all fossil fuels.

I think about the important role of carbon in manufacturing steel and carbides that are important to human life.

Photo by Anamul Rezwan on Pexels.com

I think about carbon as a component of calcium carbonate – the main ingredient in the shells I see, plus in limestone, marble, chalk, antacids, and more.

I think about the carbon found in carbon dioxide – the gas that exhalation removes from our bodies. The same gas that the animals of the sea and land also do in their way for the same reason. The same gas is also essential to green plants making their food. The same gas gives effervescence to carbonate beverages.

Burning fire releases the same gas, which is also a prime component in some fire extinguishers. Yeast releases the same gas to make bread dough rise and transform grape juice into wine. The same gas also dissolves in the waters of the sea, lakes, and rivers.

I think about the abundance of carbon in the sun, stars, comets, and asteroids. All this carbon formed in the core of stars by joining atoms of helium and hydrogen together – then scattered in the universe as space dust from supernova explosions.

Photo by Miriam Espacio on Pexels.com

I think of the carbon within me and all people – the same carbon in all the animals in the sea and on the land – the same carbon in all the green plants – the same carbon in bacteria, mosses, and fungi. Yes, the same carbon from the stars in the universe – so yes, we and the rest of life are stardust.

I think of carbon – its role in our life and its role in all life as we know it. Carbon is a very-worthy thought as I walk because carbon is more than we realize. After all, I like walking on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about Carbon

• Carbon Dating (a short essay)
• The Magic of Redwoods (a poem with photos)
• 5 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint (a short essay)
• Double Space (a haiku)
• Carbon Capture (an essay)

Next Post: Circles v2 – Saturday 24th June @ 1 AM (Eastern US)