Removing Human Activities from the Carbon Cycle

      The Carbon Cycle is one of 3 major cycles that occur on Earth. There are major processes within the carbon cycle that help carbon to cycle from atmosphere, underground, and to the atmosphere once more. These include geochemical processes, biological processes, mixed biogeochemical processes, and human activities. Photosynthesis takes the CO2 from the atmosphere and uses it to make oxygen both on land and in the ocean. Animals then feed on the plants, the CO2 now in their bodies and released back into the atmosphere through Respiration, which is simply “breathing” it out into the atmosphere. Animals die and become fossil fuels over time after they decompose. Humans use these fossils fuels and burn them, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere once again, as well as other things such as burning trees, the fire burning the plants and releasing the carbon dioxide, and factories releasing it in the chemicals and such that they use for products. Volcanic activity also returns carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

 

So, what happens when you remove human activities from this process?

      Human activities include mining, cutting and burning forests, burning fossil fuels and many other activities in which release carbon molecules that are stored in the items being altered into the atmosphere. About half of this carbon is slowly eating away at our ozone layer and contributing to Global Warming, a very large concern with the health of our planet. Carbon is a natural resource, so why is it harming our planet? The more carbon that is released into the atmosphere at once, is throwing the natural balance off. Too much carbon or not enough carbon in the atmosphere can be a very bad thing.

      By removing these activities from Earth completely, the carbon cycle is greatly affected. It takes many years for dead plants and animals to decompose and release carbon into the atmosphere naturally. This would mean that the carbon dioxide would be ‘stored’ or ‘hidden’ within the plants or animals until it releases them back into the atmosphere, or decomposes enough to release them back. Also, tons of pounds of carbon dioxide is beneath Earth’s surface, contained within fossil fuels under land soil and under the ocean floor. This means that the carbon dioxide will not be in the atmosphere for many years, always going into reservoirs and not returning to the atmosphere for many years. This too could throw the balance of carbon dioxide levels on Earth off. However, it could be a very good thing for the health of Earth for a long time because of Global Warming. By removing high levels of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere, the amount of ozone that is being destroyed by them will too be reduced, causing Global Warming to reduce over time and not harm Earth’s ozone layer in the atmosphere.

 

Resources and Citations

"Global Warming & Climate Change." Global Warming- Science. The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html.

Groff, Emily. "How Human Activities Affect the Carbon Cycle." How Human Activities Affect the Carbon Cycle. Phys Org, 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. http://phys.org/news/2010-12-human-affect-carbon.html.