THE CARBON CYCLE - Why Is the Carbon Cycle Important? - Carbon is an essential element for all life, so understanding how it moves helps us to understand biological processes and factors that influence them. One form carbon takes is the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, CO2. Increased levels of carbon dioxide insulate the Earth, causing temperatures to rise. Understanding how carbon dioxide is absorbed and released helps us understand the climate and predict global warming. Carbon is not in balance, so it's important to learn where it is being stored and released. The rate at which carbon is deposited into living organisms is not the same as the rate it is returned to the Earth. There is about 100x more carbon in living matter than in the Earth. Burning fossil fuels releases massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and to the Earth. The carbon cycle is tied to the availability of other elements and compounds.

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The Carbon Cycle

Why Is the Carbon Cycle Important?

The Exchange of Carbon on Earth

by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. 

The carbon cycle describes the way the element carbon moves between the Earth's biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere.

It is important for a few reasons:

1.    Carbon is an essential element for all life, so understanding how it moves helps us to understand biological processes and factors that influence them.

2.    One form carbon takes is the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, CO₂. Increased levels of carbon dioxide insulate the Earth, causing temperatures to rise. Understanding how carbon dioxide is absorbed and released helps us understand the climate and predict global warming.

3.    Carbon is not in balance, so it's important to learn where it is being stored and released. The rate at which carbon is deposited into living organisms is not the same as the rate it is returned to the Earth. There is about 100x more carbon in living matter than in the Earth. Burning fossil fuels releases massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and to the Earth.

4.    The carbon cycle is tied to the availability of other elements and compounds. For example, the carbon cycle is tied to the availability of oxygen in the atmosphere. During photosynthesis, plants take carbon dioxide from the air and used it to make glucose (stored carbon), while releasing oxygen.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Introduction

Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Science educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

ThoughtCo and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.

Widely-published graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other illustrations used in science.

Experience

Anne Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels. She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.

In addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college professor. 

Education

Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.

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https://www.thoughtco.com/carbon-cycle-important-607597