In this blog we will be looking at the meaning of global carbon cycle, climate change and what are the important benefits of carbon cycle.
INTRODUCTION
The carbon cycle plays a key role in regulating Earth’s global temperature and climate by controlling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect itself is a naturally occurring phenomenon that makes Earth warm enough for life to exist. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be a much colder place. Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas, because it helps Earth’s atmosphere to retain heat generated from the Sun. But sometimes, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences.
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Too much carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere can lead to a planet that gets unnaturally hot. Since the industrial revolution in the 19th century, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 30%. Scientists have shown that this increase in carbon dioxide is a result of human activities that have occurred over the last 150 years, including the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Since carbon seems to be connected to everything that matters to us—our climate, our bodies, our ecosystems, the health of our planet—it makes sense for us, scientists and non-scientists alike, to learn as much about carbon and carbon cycle as we can. Only then can we make sensible “carbon decisions” that will impact our future.
What is global carbon cycle?
The carbon cycle describes the process in which carbon atoms continually travel from the atmosphere to the Earth and then back into the atmosphere. The carbon cycle is nature’s way of reusing carbon atoms, which travel from the atmosphere into organisms in the Earth and then back into the atmosphere over and over again. Most carbon is stored in rocks and sediments, while the rest is stored in the ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms. All of the major carbon dioxide outgassing sources can potentially vary dramatically through time. There are likely unidirectional changes in the history of outgassing, tied to Earth’s long-term thermal and tectonic evolution and superimposed on these shorter-term cyclic changes on the order of several million years linked to tectonic processes.
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The carbon cycle has a large effect on the function and wellbeing of our planet. Globally, the carbon cycle plays a key role in regulating the Earth’s climate by controlling the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is important because it contributes to the greenhouse effect, in which heat generated from sunlight at the Earth’s surface is trapped by certain gasses and prevented from escaping through the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect itself is a perfectly natural phenomenon and, without it, the Earth would be a much colder place. But as is often the case, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences, and an unnatural buildup of greenhouse gasses can lead to a planet that gets unnaturally hot.
Climate Change
Climate change is the significant variation of average weather conditions becoming, for example, warmer, wetter, or drier—over several decades or longer. It is the longer-term trend that differentiates climate change from natural weather variability. Burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and farming livestock are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth’s temperature. This adds enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming.
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What are the important benefits of carbon cycle.
- The movement of carbon from one reservoir to another can also slow down and spread-out climatic changes caused by changes in carbon dioxide levels.
- This reduces the impact on global temperatures, but has also led to ocean acidification, which threatens certain marine creatures and ecosystems.
- The carbon cycle plays a key role in regulating Earth’s climate and making the planet habitable. By moving carbon out of the lithosphere, it becomes available to living things, making life possible
- This reduces the impact on global temperatures, but has also led to ocean acidification, which threatens certain marine creatures and ecosystems.