The Carbon cycle is important to all life on Earth. All living things are made out of carbon, and it is necessary for life to exist. Plants use carbon to produce food and oxygen. This provides life to the rest of the organisms on the planet.
Carbon enters the atmosphere from respiration and from burning things like fossil fuels. Carbon is then absorbed by producers for photosynthesis. When animals, or humans, eat the plants, the carbon is passed along. Most of this carbon is exhaled into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. When these animals and plants eventually die, they are eaten by decomposers. The carbon that was in these once living bodies is passed along to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. If the bodies are not decomposed normally, they could potentially become fossil fuels to be burned in the future by humans. This releases carbon back into the atmosphere. All the carbon that was released in this process in then again used by plants for photosynthesis to start the process again.
In the case that a body is turned into fossil fuel, the carbon is stuck in the ground for hundreds of years. This is a sort of reservoir for carbon, called carbon sinks. Humans disrupt this natural process so we can burn it for fuel; mainly to power our cars. This releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide in the air is actually helpful; it keeps our planet a livable temperature, although the amount we are burning off is warming our planet up more than it has before.
Carbon is second most abundant things our bodies next to water. The ocean is a huge source of carbon to provide nutrients to plant life. 99% of carbon is stored within the Earth's surface.
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| The Carbon Cycle The Carbon Cycle Song |
