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katlian t1_ja0w0el wrote

Reply to comment by vasopressin334 in Water on Earth is not Constant. Why ? by ItsDivyamGupta

That water isn't permanently lost though. When the structure of the plant oxidizes either slowly (decomposition or animal digestion) or rapidly (fire) most of the hydrogen combines with oxygen from the atmosphere to form new water molecules.

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vasopressin334 t1_ja10crm wrote

While it is clearly true that the water is not “lost” and much of the water sequestered in this way is released through various degradation processes, some water is captured, much the way that some carbon is captured. This captured water makes up not only the organic molecules present in all fertile soil but also the bulk of all biomass.

However, since the entire biomass of every living thing on earth is about 10 million times less than the mass of all water on earth, the water captured in this way will never be more than a negligible amount.

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Smallpaul t1_ja6wry7 wrote

When wood is burned, water is a byproduct?

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BobbyP27 t1_ja70ykd wrote

Chemically speaking, wood contains mostly carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. When it is burned, the hydrogen atoms end up as water vapour.

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