The carbon cycle

Introduction

Carbon? What is it and where is it found. Carbon or, C02 is what we breathe out right at this very moment in fact. Carbon is found in humans, animals, sea, trees, and even rocks and shells, C02 is a very crucial part of the planet we live in. But it is being exposed and released in unnecessary amounts. This will become a problem over time.

Land

The carbon cycle is everywhere in everything, factories is one place that humans have stored C02 to power and run there man made machinery. C02 can also be found in forests, bush fires are one way to release the trees C02 into the atmosphere, deforestation is another, when the tree burns or is cut down, the now dead tree, releases all of its contained C02. But how does the tree get its C02. This is all done through  process named photosynthesis,  photosynthesis involves the trees/plants and humans. When humans exhale we release carbon or C02 into the atmosphere, and when we inhale we breathe in oxygen. trees and plants do the exact opposite, they breathe in C02 and breathe out oxygen, this is so that us humans have oxygen to breathe in, and the plants have something to live off. Another way that carbon moves is through a process called decompostion, decompostion is when trees die and compact into the soil or ground, which the is a bit like deforestation, the now dead tree releases all of it excess C02. After this is completed, the dead trees are stored for years and years, eventually turning into fossil fuels, this is so that we can power cars, trucks, things like that. man made things .

sea/ocean

Diffusion is a process when the ocean absorbs C02 from the atmosphere, and is then transferred into sea plants such as plankton, seaweed, kelp and coral. This enables these plants to survive as well. As you can see diffusion is exactly the same as photosynthesis, except underwater. Once the marine life (fish) eat the underwater plants, the plants overtime then die and sink to the sea floor, once the plant has died at the sea floor, it the releases all of its remaining C02 into the water for fish and other underwater plants to absorb. This process is called sedimentation, which is decomposion, except once again underwater. As for the fish which now contains the plants C02, when the fish dies, it releases its C02 for other fish and plants to absorb.

human impact

Human impact is influencing how much C02 we are producing into the atmosphere . This is becoming a problem because with things like, deforestation, factories, and even things like cars, heavy machinery, and burning things like fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gases. all of the above are releasing excess C02. Which then is leading to global warming. Global warming will change the world on a huge scale. we wont have things like the polar ice caps. Excess C02 in the atmosphere is not needed now, or ever. We should be reducing the amount of C02 in our atmosphere, not increasing it. Respiration, factories, transport, natural bush fires, photosynthesis, should be accountable for because there is not much that we can do about these things. But the amount of unnecessary aspects on the plant that are releasing to much C02, is becoming a huge worry. This will not only effect our future, but the next generations also. 

conclusion

As you can see, the carbon in our atmosphere is becoming a problem, I hope that you now know that if we all don’t make a difference, we will all pay the consequences.

By Jared Baines