Photosynthesis is a complex series of reactions carried out by algae, phytoplankton, and the leaves in plants, which utilize the energy from the sun. An important summary statement is that during photosynthesis plants use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
Combustion occurs when any organic material is reacted (burned) in the presence of oxygen to give off the products of carbon dioxide and water and ENERGY. The organic material can be any fossil fuel such as natural gas (methane), oil, or coal.
An important summary statement is that during combustion/metabolism oxygen is used and carbon dioxide is a product. The whole purpose of both processes is to convert chemical energy into other forms of energy such as heat.
Effects of Changing the Carbon Cycle
Atmosphere
It is significant that so much carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere because CO2 is the most important gas for controlling Earth’s temperature. Carbon dioxide, methane, and halocarbons are greenhouse gases that absorb a wide range of energy and then re-emit it. The re-emitted energy travels out in all directions, but some returns to Earth, where it heats the surface. Without greenhouse gases, Earth would be frozen -18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit). With too many greenhouse gases, Earth would keeps temperatures around 400 degrees Celsius (750 Fahrenheit).
This rise in temperature isn’t all the warming we will see based on current carbon dioxide concentrations. Greenhouse warming doesn’t happen right away because the ocean soaks up heat. This means that Earth’s temperature will increase at least another 0.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) because of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. The degree to which temperatures go up beyond that depends in part on how much more carbon humans release into the atmosphere in the future.
IThe global warming is an environmental problem that its damage is in constant increase. It is too difficult for actual civilization to stop, or at least decrease, the CO2 emissions, and if the whole world don’t stop to damage its own, all of us will suffer the consequences.
The carbon cycle has many related chemical reactions, but the main ones are these two: