Carbon cycle simple explanation. Climate Change: The Carbon Cycle 2022-12-10

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The carbon cycle is the process by which carbon moves through the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land. It plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth's climate and supporting life on the planet.

The carbon cycle begins with the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere through natural processes such as respiration, decomposition, and volcanic eruptions. Plants and other photosynthesizing organisms absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into organic matter through photosynthesis. This process removes CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in the form of plant biomass.

When plants die and decompose, the carbon stored in their biomass is released back into the atmosphere as CO2. This process is called decomposition. In addition, carbon can be released into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and through deforestation and land use changes.

The oceans also play a significant role in the carbon cycle. They absorb a large amount of CO2 from the atmosphere, and tiny marine organisms, such as phytoplankton, convert it into organic matter. When these organisms die, their carbon-rich bodies sink to the bottom of the ocean, where it can be stored for hundreds of years.

The carbon cycle is not a simple one-way process, however. There are also processes that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the oceans and on land. For example, forests absorb CO2 through photosynthesis and store it in the form of wood and other plant matter.

Overall, the carbon cycle helps to regulate the amount of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere and plays a vital role in maintaining the planet's climate. However, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, are disrupting the natural balance of the carbon cycle, leading to an increase in atmospheric CO2 and contributing to climate change.

An Easy Explanation of the Carbon Cycle for Kids

carbon cycle simple explanation

Decay In the soil, decomposers such as microbes and soil animals break down dead plant material. The growing population Chapter 3 in many countries has required agriculture to become industrialized in order to meet demand. One thing that can happen is they can be recycled back into the biological processes of the surface ocean — so maybe zooplankton eats them, maybe they die and they are returned to their component minerals by natural processes and that carbon is taken up by some other phytoplankton. In contrast, the weathering of rocks that occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves into rainwater to form carbonic acid H 2CO 3 reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. All of the carbon that is currently stored in all of the vegetation on Earth got there through the process of photosynthesis. The Industrial Revolution, which occurred around the turn of the 19 th century, began to make major changes in the use of resources around the world.

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The carbon cycle

carbon cycle simple explanation

The plant and animal material may then be available as fossil fuel in the future for combustion. Nitrate is the form commonly used by plants. When the remains have been around for thousands of years, they become fossil fuels, and these are huge reservoirs of Carbon. Acknowledgement: Terry and Janice Dowdeswell. This is another example of how humans have impacted the carbon cycle.

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Carbon cycle — Science Learning Hub

carbon cycle simple explanation

In order for most forms of agriculture to be successful, native vegetation is eliminated or minimized. The elements which release Carbon in the atmosphere are called the sources, while those that absorb Carbon from the atmosphere are called the sinks. Acknowledgement: The University of Waikato. The difference is that in cellular respiration, energy is released in a controlled fashion, and captured in ATP molecules. While the burning of biomass for domestic use contributes to some of these fires, it is the so-called slash-and-burn agriculture that makes up a larger contribution.


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Carbon cycle

carbon cycle simple explanation

Changes to fluxes in the carbon cycle that humans are responsible for include: increased contribution of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass; increased contribution of CO 2 to the atmosphere due to land-use changes; increased CO 2 dissolving into the ocean through ocean-atmosphere exchange; and increased terrestrial photosynthesis. For example, the metamorphic reactions that occur under heat and pressure can release carbon dioxide. Why or why not? Resources Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory: Carbon Cycle Science Page 11 Sass, Ronald. Biomass, which is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, is a much smaller reservoir of carbon. Photosynthesis takes place in organelles called chloroplasts, shown in Figure 7.

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Climate Change: The Carbon Cycle

carbon cycle simple explanation

All plants, animals including humans! Carbon is environmentally friendly because it traps the heat of the sun. Diamonds are also a form of Carbon, as is Coal! Everything — carbohydrates, sugars, our DNA, our cells, all have Carbon. As the world accelerated in the production and transportation of manufactured goods, the production and consumption of fossil fuels grew. Nitrogen and Air Pollution An unsightly haze of smog, visible from NCAR's Mesa Laboratory, rests over Boulder Valley. This is the process which breaks down Carbon dioxide into compounds that can be used as nutrition by the plants. In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide CO 2. It is so named because carbon flows through the various carbon reservoirs in a matter of days, months, or years.

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Biogeochemical Cycles

carbon cycle simple explanation

They use energy from the sun to combine the carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrates. Locate the carbon cycle icon and identify other Earth system processes and phenomena that cause changes to, or are affected by, the cycling of carbon. Do you think this correlation is more likely due to personal biomass fires for activities such as cooking, or due to slash-and-burn agriculture? The number of herbivores will increase when the plant supply increases and then the herbivores are left without a food source when the plants die. The first two impacts, both contributing excess CO2 to the atmosphere at a rate of 4 Gt of carbon per year have, by far, the largest impact on our planet. Ergo, we would all perish! Certain actions of humans are causing changes to the nitrogen cycle and the amount of nitrogen that is stored in reservoirs.

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Carbon Cycle

carbon cycle simple explanation

Photosynthesis accounts for 123 Gt of C per year that is removed from the atmosphere and stored in plant biomass. Click the image on the left to open the Understanding Global Change Infographic. The waste associated with livestock farming releases a large amount of nitrogen into soil and water. Carbon is the primary building block of life, including DNA, proteins, sugars and fats. In smog, the concentration rises twenty-fold to about 0. When organisms die the decomposition of their bodies recycles carbon dioxide back to atmosphere.

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Explain carbon cycle with the help of a diagram. [5 MARKS]

carbon cycle simple explanation

The same atoms are recycled over and over in different parts of the Earth. The most common of these are the carbon and nitrogen cycles. The products of photosynthesis are oxygen and glucose Equation 7. As you saw earlier, methane is a common product of anaerobic metabolisms. These locations where carbon resides are known as pools or reservoirs, and the processes that move carbon from one location to another are called fluxes. Most of the remainder becomes dissolved in seawater.

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carbon cycle simple explanation

As the successive layers of sediment are compressed and cemented they are turned into limestone rock. In this process, plants release Oxygen as a by product. The use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers can cause nutrient loading in nearby waterways as nitrates from the fertilizer wash into streams and ponds. We all need energy to survive and do things. Total annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion 1850-2011 by global region. .

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