There are lots of natural processes constantly happening all around us, these processes are often linked by passing one type of atom to the next process which passes the same atom to the next one and so on. This ‘passing of the atom’ along a chain of processes is called a cycle, the series of processes in which the carbon atom goes through is called the carbon cycle. Each Carbon is the fourth most affluent element in the universe and is an important part of most molecules that make up most of the world’s natural resources and organic matter, which is why the carbon cycle is one of the most important cycles on earth. Through-out the cycle, carbon can become several different forms such as sugar, oil, diamond and marble. Processes such as photosynthesis, combustion and the compression of the earth play key roles in changing, containing and releasing carbon. All the chemical reactions and processes and forms carbon creates are part of the carbon cycle, which is one of the most important cycle on earth. The majority of carbon on earth is in the atmosphere the rest is stored in rocks, fossil fuels, oceans, plants and soil. Carbon is constantly being added to the atmosphere, the most common forms being carbon dioxide and methane gas. At the same time it’s being removed by plants on land and in the oceans. Carbon can be stored for hundreds of years in sediment, fossil fuels, rocks and the ocean. The carbon in the atmosphere is almost always a compound called carbon dioxide.
The Carbon Cycle is a process necessary to all life forms as carbon is used for photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and is found in all living organisms. This process occurs naturally from cellular respiration, decomposition, and volcanic eruptions. However from burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees at a rapid pace carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere at an artificial rate. The overabundance of atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing for global warming. This global warming is causing extreme havoc to the Earth and all of its life forms. However this damage, although cannot be reversed, can be changed for the better.
It starts in the atmosphere, then moves, gets used, and placed into multiple different reservoirs. Nature causes the carbon to move through animals and plants. The fast carbon cycle is measured within a lifespan. It runs through the atmosphere, plants, animals, and soil. The slow carbon takes eons for carbon to move from the reservoirs, consisting of the surface ocean, deep ocean, and fossil fuels.“...takes between 100-200 million years to move” (Riebeeck p.2). Carbon that is stored into abiotic and biotic organisms, creates matter. Without carbon, fossil fuels wouldn’t be created (or anything alive, for that matter.) “Carbon is the backbone of life” (Riebeeck p.1). The carbon cycle somewhat regulates the concentration of carbon in one area by having multiple
What is the carbon cycle? “Sequence of processes through which carbon compounds move from one carbon reservoir or sink (such as forests and oceans) to another (such as atmosphere) and back. Since more carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels and less
The carbon cycle in The Amazon Rainforest consists mainly in the plants. The plants will absorb the carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. The carbon that is absorbs with the plants mainly forms the organic body of the plant. For every one atom of carbon dioxide a plant absorbs, it will release two atoms of oxygen into the atmosphere. The animals also absorb the carbon dioxide into their system by eating the plants as a source of food. When either the plant or animal dies, the carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere.
When trees are burned, CO2 is relinquished. The burning of astronomically immense areas of trees is known as deforestation. Human activities integrate more CO2 into the atmosphere through activities like the burning of fossil fuels. The guiding question of this investigation is, “Which carbon cycle process affects atmospheric carbon the most?” The researchers initially wanted to learn 2 things. First, the researchers wanted to learn how much carbon engenderment there would be if they incremented the amount of fossil fuels burnt by a certain amount. The researchers also wanted to learn how much carbon engenderment there would be if they incremented the amount of deforestation.
Climate change happens when long term weather patterns are refined. It can be identified in the changes of temperature, winds, precipitation, and other forms of natural processes. This can occur through many different factors, one being through human activity. Global warming is one of the main scales used to measure climate change. For life to be able to continue on Earth, the sun is required. Solar radiation is reflected back into space, however, small amounts of radiation get trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a rise of temperature. The atmosphere is composed of delicate gases, the most important gas being Carbon Dioxide. A main component on Earth is Carbon, which is released into the atmosphere through many activities, one human
You can identify a long-trend in the data provided by Globalview because it provides you with different sources and data from different areas around the world. Humans have increased the release of CO2 by like cement production, deforestation, and burning fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide is very important in the atmosphere, however only in moderation. For centuries humans have been burning coal, oil, and fossil fuels therefore releasing tons of carbon into the air. The problem with this is that this can cause a problem known as global warming. This is a major climate problem, which has series results on people and the environment. The result on people can be very deadly. Too much carbon in the air can cause cancer.
The Earth is a very miniscule piece in a much grander puzzle called the universe. Within that tiny rock in space are complicated systems that help to sustain life. The atmosphere surrounding us is a mixture of many different components. It is composed of roughly 78% nitrogen, about 21% oxygen, and about 1% other, which includes carbon, the most fundamental element on Earth (Hopkins 2010). Carbon is present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (Hopkins 2010). Carbon dioxide may have a small presence in the earth 's atmosphere but it plays an important role in the processes within the ocean, having a huge influence over the chemistry of seawater carbonate and its equilibrium process (Hopkins 2010). One way it impacts the ocean is via a process called ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide is a compound that can be found in nature, but the elevated carbon dioxide levels caused by humans can have a lot of unintended consequences, particularly to the seawater carbonate chemistry (Hopkins 2010).
Carbon dioxide which is given off as a byproduct of cellular respiration, carbon monoxide given off from burning gas for energy, methane given off by livestock and other sources, and chlorofluorocarbons given off by industrial products and synthetics products all are carbon containing molecules which contribute to the greenhouse effect. As more excess carbon is given off, the ozone layer becomes more thin, letting in more of the sun's radiation. Carbon also helps “insulate” the Earth's atmosphere, trapping heat and reflects the sun's energy back to the earth, causing it to warm; much like a real
In his book “Carbon Democracy”, Timothy Mitchell discusses how coal power plants, despite their environmental impact, increases democracy in a building when compared with oil/gas based energy. By the 1980’s, the British labor have had the ability to form unions and strikes against the government, particularly to overthrow prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The series of strikes due to the National Union of Mineworkers was, according to Mitchell, the longest in British history. On the other hand, similar efforts in Dhahran, Abadan and Kirkuk, along pipelines at the coast of Lebanon and Palestine, proved to be difficult for oil workers. The reason behind the different democratic possibilities is the nature of each technology: Coal is transported
Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) have been rising because of increasing emissions from human activities. The primary source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. CO2 is also produced by land use changes, including tropical deforestation. Agricultural activity and waste treatment are important sources of CH4 and N2O
The world continuously faces a variety of threats every day, from natural disasters to terrorist, but one threat that society predominately contributes to all on their own, is climate change. There are many feasible explanations for the global threat of climate change. These explanations include but are not limited to, the act of deforestation to the rainforest and other trees, green house gas emissions, and sulfate aerosol, which cause poor air quality.
Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas naturally found in the atmosphere. Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, humans have devised many inventions that burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gases, which, along with other human activities such as clearing land for agriculture or urban settlements, help some of these greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere that in turn trap more heat radiation in the atmosphere causing the Earth’s climate to become warmer than it would naturally (Mastrandrea). This unnatural phenomenon is termed global warming by scientists and they blame it for an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature of about 0.6°C (about 1°F) over the last 100 years (Mastrandrea).
When you hear about global warming many things come to mind. The greenhouse effect, pollution, carbon dioxide and of course, the earths temperatures rising. When people hear of the greenhouse effect do they actually know what it is. The suns UV rays hit the earth and 30% of the energy reflected back into space, 47% gets absorbed by gasses and turns into heat energy. The rest is shared between the water cycle, photosynthesis Some of the heat tries to escape back into the atmosphere but is trapped by the greenhouse gasses. This in turn makes earth a liveable planet. Without these greenhouse gasses the earth would have an average temperature of -18 degrees instead of a nice liveable 15 degrees Celsius.