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“Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of, who do the things no one can imagine.” - Alan Turing
CARBON CYCLE
CARBON CYCLE EXPLAINED
FOR YOUR NOTEBOOK
Carbon moves from the atmosphere to plants. In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide which is pulled from the air to produce food made from carbon for plant growth.
Carbon moves from plants to animals. Through food chains, the carbon that is in plants moves to the animals that eat them.
Carbon moves from plants and animals to soil. When plants and animals die, their bodies, wood, and leaves decay. Some are buried and will become fossil fuels.
Carbon moves from living things to the atmosphere. Animals and plants release carbon dioxide gas through a process called respiration.
Carbon moves from fossil fuels to the atmosphere when fuels are burned. When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Most stays in the atmosphere with the remainder dissolving in seawater.
Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the oceans where it is absorbed and dissolved into the water.
