Quote:
Originally Posted by George O Well
>>>Doesn't turning matter into energy decrease the quantity of matter?
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Yes, the theory says matter and energy are conserved as in total, so converting matter to energy and energy to matter are equivalent. Note that theory also dictates entropy always increases, so matter will eventually disappear into energy so diffuse matter can not be created, but that's on the scale of the universe.
And yes, burning fossil fuels does decrease the amount of matter.