Carbon is the backbone of life on Earth. We are made of carbon, we eat carbon, and our civilizations are built on carbon. We need carbon, but that need is also entwined with one of the most serious problems facing us today: global climate change. Carbon flows between each reservoir in an exchange called the carbon cycle, which has slow and fast components. Any change in the cycle that shifts carbon out of one reservoir puts more carbon in the other reservoirs. Changes that put carbon gases into the atmosphere result in warmer temperatures on Earth.
This diagram of the fast carbon cycle shows the movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans. Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, and red are human contributions in gigatons of carbon per year. White numbers indicate stored carbon.
STEP 1) Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide from respiration (breathing) and combustion (burning).
STEP 2) Carbon dioxide is absorbed by producers (life forms that make their own food e.g. plants) to make carbohydrates in photosynthesis. These producers then put off oxygen.
STEP 3) Animals feed on the plants, thus passing the carbon compounds along the food chain. Most of the carbon these animals consume however is exhaled as carbon dioxide. This is through the process of respiration. The animals and plants then eventually die.
STEP 4) The dead organisms (dead animals and plants) are eaten by decomposers in the ground. The carbon that was in their bodies is then returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. In some circumstances the process of decomposition is prevented. The decomposed plants and animals may then be available as fossil fuel in the future for combustion.
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steps of carbon cycle:
CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN OUR SURROUNDINGS: Carbon cycle and global warming
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