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Introduction to the Carbon Cycle

Before we discuss the cycle, there are a few things you need to know about carbon:

The Earth has a finite amount of carbon. Living things are made up of carbon (often they are described as being carbon-based) and need carbon to survive. Carbon is also found in non-living things such as rocks, animal shells, the atmosphereand oceans. Carbon found in something living is called organic carbon. Carbon found in something non-living is called inorganic carbon. Carbon dioxide is an important gas in our atmosphere. It prevents heat from escaping and, in doing so, warms up the Earths atmosphere. In a similar way to the glass of a greenhouse, it traps the heat from escaping and, for this reason, it is called a greenhouse gas.

The Carbon Cycle All living things are made of carbon. Carbon is also a part of the ocean, air, and even rocks. Because the Earth is a dynamic place, carbon does not stay still. It is on the move! In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to some oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide. Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to make their own food and grow. The carbon becomes part of the plant. Plants that die and are buried may turn into fossil fuels made of carbon like coal and oil over millions of years. When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and traps heat in the atmosphere. Without it and other greenhouse gases, Earth would be a frozen world. But humans have

burned so much fuel that there is about 30% more carbon dioxide in the air today than there was about 150 years ago, and Earth is becoming a warmer place. In fact, ice cores show us that there is now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there has been in the last 420,000 years.

What is the Carbon Cycle?


Carbon is found in both organic (living) and inorganic (non-living) forms. The Carbon Cycle is a complex series of processes through which all of the carbon atoms in existence rotate. The same carbon atoms in your body today have been used in countless other molecules since time began. The wood burned just a few decades ago could have produced carbon dioxide which through photosynthesis became part of a plant. When you eat that plant, the same carbon from the wood which was burnt can become part of you. The carbon cycle is the great natural recycler of carbon atoms. Unfortunately, the extent of its importance is rarely stressed enough. Without the proper functioning of the carbon cycle, every aspect of life could be changed dramatically. We believe that it's vital to understand how the carbon cycle works in order to see the danger of it not working. Therefore, let's look at a sample carbon cycle and explore how carbon atoms move through our natural world. Plants, animals, and soil interact to make up the basic cycles of nature. In the carbon cycle, plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it, combined with water they get from the soil, to make the substances they need for growth. The process of photosynthesis incorporates the carbon atoms from carbon dioxide into sugars. Animals, such as the rabbit pictured here, eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues. Other animals, such as the fox, eat the rabbit and then use the carbon for their own needs. These animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe, and when they die, since the carbon is returned to the soil during decomposition. The carbon atoms in soil may then be used in a new plant or small microorganisms. Ultimately, the same carbon atom can move through many

organisms and even end in the same place where it began. Herein lies the fascination of the carbon cycle; the same atoms can be recycled for millennia!

How does the carbon cycle work?


Carbon cycle processes If a diagram were drawn showing the different processes that move carbon from one form to another, its main processes would be photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, natural weathering of rocks, and the combustion of fossil fuels. Photosynthesis. Carbon exists in the atmosphere as the compound carbon dioxide. It first enters the ecological food web (the connected network of producers and consumers) when photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and certain algae, absorb carbon dioxide through tiny pores in their leaves. The plants then "fix" or capture the carbon dioxide and are able to convert it into simple sugars like glucose through the biochemical process known as photosynthesis. Plants store and use this sugar to grow and to reproduce. Thus, by their very nature as makers of their own food, plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When plants are eaten by animals, their carbon is passed on to those animals. Since animals cannot The carbon cycle. (Reproduced by permission of The Gale Group.) make their own food, they must get their carbon either directly by eating plants or indirectly by eating animals that have eaten plants. Respiration. Respiration is the next step in the cycle, and unlike photosynthesis, it occurs in plants, animals, and even decomposers. Although we usually think only of breathing oxygen when we hear the word "respiration," it has a broader meaning that involves oxygen. To a biologist, respiration is the process in which oxygen is used to break down organic compounds into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). For an animal then, respiration is both taking in oxygen (and releasing carbon dioxide) and oxidizing its food (or burning it with oxygen) in order to release the energy the food contains. In both cases, carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Carbon atoms that started out as components of carbon dioxide molecules have passed through the body of living organisms and been returned to the atmosphere, ready to be recycled again. Decomposition. Decomposition is the largest source through which carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Decomposers are microorganisms that live mostly in the soil but also in water, and which feed on the rotting remains

of plants and animals. It is their job to consume both waste products and dead matter, during which they also return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by respiration. Decomposers not only play a key role in the carbon cycle, but also break down, remove, and recycle what might be called nature's garbage. Weathering of rocks. Not all carbon atoms are always moving somewhere in the carbon cycle. Often, many become trapped in limerock, a type of stone formed on the ocean floor by the shells of marine plankton. Sometimes after millions of years, the waters recede and the limerock is eventually exposed to the elements. When limerock is exposed to the natural process of weathering, it slowly releases the carbon atoms it contains, and they become an active part of the carbon cycle once again Human-caused increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In recent history, humans have added to the carbon cycle by burning fossil fuels. Ever since the rapid growth of the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century when people first harnessed steam to power their engines, human beings have been burning carboncontaining fuels like coal and oil (called fossil fuels) for artificial power. This constant burning produces massive amounts of carbon dioxide, which are released into Earth's atmosphere. Over the last 150 years, the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas has released some 270 billion tons (245 billion metric tons) of carbon into the air in the form of carbon dioxide. Luckily, more than half of the carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels is absorbed by the oceans, by plants, and by soils. Regardless, scientists feel fossil fuel consumption could be an example of a human activity that affects and possibly alters the natural processes (photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition) that nature had previously kept in balance. Many scientists believe that carbon dioxide is a "greenhouse gas." This means that it traps heat and prevents it from escaping from Earth. As a result, this trapped gas leads to a global temperature rise, a natural phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect, which can have disastrous effects on Earth's environment

How does carbon get recycled?

Carbon is mostly cycled through the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are processes by which it is added to the atmosphere and processes by which it is removed. This cycling of carbon via carbon dioxide is known as the carbon cycle. One simple representation of the carbon cycle is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 One representation of the carbon cycle. Organic carbon means carbon bound up in living organisms and in their waste products. Processes that add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

In diagrams of the carbon cycle, up arrows are used to represent processes that add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. They include chemical processes by which living organisms obtain their energy, such as:

Cellular respiration: glucose + oxygen carbon dioxide + water + energy Fermentation: glucose carbon dioxide + alcohol + energy (This process is not directly listed in Figure 2)

Processes that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere


In diagrams of the carbon cycle, down arrows are used to represent processes that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere such as:

Photosynthesis: carbon dioxide + water + energy glucose + oxygen Formation of shells, corals, stalactites and stalagmites etc. (This process is not listed in Figure 2)

It may take over a hundred years for a particular carbon atom to enter the atmosphere, then be absorbed by a plant and converted into a sugar or other substance, then be eaten by animals and converted to a new substance, and eventually eaten by you in a great roast dinner! Some carbon atoms are taken 'out of the loop' for thousands of years, however, by being converted to fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

Impact of the carbon cycle

Advantages- It helps in the transfer of energy which is mostly in the form of Carbon compounds. Also it provides in the formation of new carboncompounds

Disadvantage Due to carbon cycle CO2 is produced which is very harmful.

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