What is the carbon cycle?
Carbon is the chemical backbone of all life on earth.
All of the carbon we currently have on Earth
is the same amount we have always had.
When new life is formed, carbon
forms key molecules like protein and DNA.
It's also found in our atmosphere
in the form of carbon dioxide or CO2.
The carbon cycle is nature's
way of reusing carbon atoms
which travel from the atmosphere
into organisms and 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.
These are the reservoirs
or sinks through which carbon cycles.
The ocean is a giant carbon sink that absorbs carbon.
Marine organisms from marsh plants to fish,
from seaweed
to birds, also produce carbon through living and dying.
Over millions of years,
dead organisms can become fossil fuels.
When humans burn these fuels for energy,
vast amounts of carbon
dioxide are released back into the atmosphere.
This excess
carbon dioxide changes our climate;
increasing global temperatures, causing ocean
acidification, and disrupting the planet's ecosystems.