WEBVTT
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Language: en-US

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What is the carbon cycle?

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Carbon is the chemical backbone of all life on earth.

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All of the carbon we currently have on Earth

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is the same amount we have always had.

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When new life is formed, carbon

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forms key molecules like protein and DNA.

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It's also found in our atmosphere

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in the form of carbon dioxide or CO2.

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The carbon cycle is nature's

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way of reusing carbon atoms

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which travel from the atmosphere

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into organisms and the earth

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and then back into the atmosphere over and over again.

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Most carbon is stored in rocks and sediments,

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while the rest is stored

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in the ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms.

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These are the reservoirs

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or sinks through which carbon cycles.

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The ocean is a giant carbon sink that absorbs carbon.

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Marine organisms from marsh plants to fish,

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from seaweed

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to birds, also produce carbon through living and dying.

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Over millions of years,

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dead organisms can become fossil fuels.

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When humans burn these fuels for energy,

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vast amounts of carbon

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dioxide are released back into the atmosphere.

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This excess

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carbon dioxide changes our climate;

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increasing global temperatures, causing ocean

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acidification, and disrupting the planet's ecosystems.