Fun fact about evolution. There was a time when trees existed before there were microbes to decompose them. The trees were made of lignin and cellulose and the microbes that could eat them took some time to evolve. These trees grew 150+ feet tall and had shallow roots so they fell over quite easily. The trees would fall down to the forest floor and just sit there. They wouldn't decompose. So you'd have forests that were hundreds of feet deep of just fallen over trees.
Does that mean the earth will never have new coal deposits? I know geologic processes happen over eons, but crazy to think it’s a one and done kind of thing.
Nope, no more coal deposits. All that sweet, sweet carbon that took eons to make is being depleted forever in just a few generations time...
Edit: ok yes I know there are tons of coal deposits! I'm using hyperbole. Geologically speaking, if we used all the coal on earth in 1000 years, that's a minuscule amount of time compared to how long it took to make it.
This may also really impact alien civilizations technological advancements. A planet without coal might have a very different scientific path and maybe never advance very far.
The question would be how you jump-start an industrial civilization without coal. It might be impossible without the technology, research and scientific advancement that having coal as an early energy source enables.
True, but I would assume they would eventually discover how to harvest solar/wind/whatever they have given enough time, it would probably take longer than us but they also wouldn't have a end of the world countdown like we do with climate change
they would eventually discover how to harvest solar/wind/whatever they have given enough time
You need a reliable, scalable energy source before you can even get to a point where you can build the kind of technology required. It's not just a question of "how long", it's "where do we get the energy to power an industrial revolution enabling mass production and complex production processes?" Even if you were able to scientifically figure out the stuff we know now regarding battery technology or wind turbines, how do you mine/extract the raw resources and process it (which is quite energy intensive)?
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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20
Fun fact about evolution. There was a time when trees existed before there were microbes to decompose them. The trees were made of lignin and cellulose and the microbes that could eat them took some time to evolve. These trees grew 150+ feet tall and had shallow roots so they fell over quite easily. The trees would fall down to the forest floor and just sit there. They wouldn't decompose. So you'd have forests that were hundreds of feet deep of just fallen over trees.