Carbon Cycle

Carbon

Carbon is one of the most important chemical elements carbon compounds make up approximately 18 percent of all the matter in living things. It provides most of the energy used by humans to survive. The symbol for carbon is C.

Coal is very rich in carbon. The main forms of pure natural carbon are the minerals, diamond and graphite.

Pure diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance known with lots of amazing properties. Graphite which is a crystalline form of the element carbon, is a soft slippery solid carbon is constantly being used and replaced in nature through the carbon cycle.

The carbon cycle depicts the movement of carbon on earth in both its elemental and combined states.

Carbon cycle

• Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is used up by plants along with sunlight for photosynthesis.

• It is the process which breaks down carbon dioxide CO2 into compounds (O2) that can be used as nutrition by the plants.
• The plants emit oxygen during this process. Like the cow is eating grass. Animals and humans consume these plants and thus the carbon is transferred from the plants to humans and animals.
• Oxygen is inhaled and the carbon is sent back to the atmosphere through the process of respiration.
• Other than respiration, when humans, plants or animals die. Their remains rot and decompose, transferring carbon to the earth. When the remains have been around for so many years, they become fossil fuels and these are huge reservoirs of carbon.
• Combustion, fossil fuel burning, wood burning, etc. are some processes which transfer carbon back to the atmosphere. This is released in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas.

Look at this huge ocean.! Oceans and other large water bodies which have cool water on their surface, also absorb some carbon from the atmosphere. Oceans exhibit dual behavior when the surface water is cooler near the poles, carbon is absorbed into the water tropical regions. It releases carbon into the atmosphere. From here the plants will again absorb it for photosynthesis and the cycle repeats.

As a greenhouse gas, carbon captures solar heat and prevents it from escaping into space, warming the planet and contributing to global warming. So, if you want to protect the environment, you should plant more trees. Deforestation should also be avoided as much as possible. Now you know a lot about the carbon cycle.