Download The Carbon Cycle - Gallaudet University

The Carbon Cycle
Carbon is in…..
•all living things
•the atmosphere
•layers under ocean floor
•fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas)
Elements in the universe
1.
2.
3.
4.
Hydrogen (H) <= most abundant
Helium (He)
Oxygen (O2)
Carbon (C )
Hubble Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS)
shows a disk of gas and dust around a young star.
Earth’s carbon cycle: 2 parts
• Geological - takes millions of years
• Biological - takes days to thousands of yrs
Geological Carbon Cycle
- millions of years Carbonate rocks
(calcium
& magnesium)
Weathering
Erosion
Subduction
Eruptions
Biological Carbon Cycle
- days to thousands of years Starts with plants
Photosynthesis
Make carbohydrates
Respiration
Metabolism
Decomposition by
bacteria
Biosphere <-> Atmosphere
Land & ocean plants remove CO2 from the air
Land plants store
carbon in tree trunks
& in soil
Ocean plant plankton
& animal plankton carbonates settle to
ocean floor
Coal, Oil & Gas
“Fossil fuels”
Is this part of the Carbon Cycle?
“Burning coal, oil,
and other fossil
fuels releases
heat-trapping
gases, such as
carbon dioxide,
into the
atmosphere.”
Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide
“More than half of the carbon dioxide
emitted by the burning of fossil fuels is
absorbed by the oceans, by plants, and
by soils.”
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Your
Carbon
Footprint