Oct 12, 2010

Why Is There Color?

This is the month of the 'Changing of the Leaves'....
It is especially vibrant along the Blue Ridge Parkway...
Trees and their colors:
Oak leaves tend to turn brown or red or a mix of those two.
Hickory leaves tend to turn bronze colored.
Aspen leaves tend to turn golden colored.
Dogwood leaves tend to turn a mix of purple and red.
Maple tree leaves vary quite a bit in autumn color. Red maple will turn scarlet. Sugar maple will turn
 orange-ish/red. Black maple will turn bright yellow.
Elm tree leaves tend to simply fall off without really changing color much before falling.
Why do some trees turn into a collage of radiant maroon, red, orange, and yellow colors in the fall? Trees are green in the summer because chlorophyll, a green pigment in the leaves, absorbs red and blue light from the sun. The light reflected from the leaves appears green to our eyes.
Chlorophyll is an unstable substance, and bright sunlight causes it to decompose rapidly. Therefore, plants must continuously synthesize and regenerate it. The shortening days and cool nights of autumn, however, interfere with this process. As chlorophyll breaks down, the green colors of the leaves begin to fade. Some trees change from green to bright yellow as the chlorophyll degrades. In others, the action of sugar in the leaves creates a red pigment, causing the leaves to turn maroon, purple, and bright red as the chlorophyll fades.
But why do we have color? It seems to serve no practical purpose—at least none that scientists can discern. And why are there photoreceptors in our eyes that enable us to see it?
I believe that God’s goodness is the point of His creation.
He is “good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Ps. 145:9).
He colored the world for our childlike delight. He’s like that, you know.
God, the engineer of all ......
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."
Psalm 19:1
(Some portions taken from Our Daily Bread...http://odb.org/)

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