Green tree irony

Ever since I was little I associated the color green with life-giving sunshine. This was natural I suppose. You look around and the world is covered in green trees and other plants, soaking up all of that yummy sunlight and using it to create the nutritious food that sustains all of life.

But then at some point I realized that I had it exactly wrong. The reason tree leaves are green is that green is the one color from which chlorophyl does not absorb energy. What cannot be absorbed is reflected.

So basically, when we look at a lush verdant forest, we are seeing sunlight’s reject. There is something kind of ironic about that.

But also kind of neat.

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