The Carbon Cycle
First, a little science. Carbon is often referred to as the ‘element of life’ as all life (and many non-living substances too!) on Earth contains carbon.
Think back to the water cycle for a moment: water cannot be created or destroyed, but it can change form as a solid (ice), a liquid (water / rain), and a gas (steam). Carbon also cannot be created or destroyed, but its form often changes, making the Carbon Cycle. Some forms of carbon you may recognise include:
- Coal
- Diamond
- Oil
- Natural gas
- Carbon dioxide in the air
- Graphite (eg. in ‘lead’ pencils)
- Petrol for fuel
- Plastics
- Plants and animals
Forms of carbon, such as coal and oil, used to be living things that have since died and have been absorbed into the ground, then formed into coal and oil from heat and pressure below the Earth’s surface. Carbon is absorbed into the ground and is released out of the ground.
But…
Humans have been extracting too much carbon from the ground and burning fossil fuels, which means we have more carbon dioxide than usual in the atmosphere and are unable to absorb it all. We are tilting the balance by burning carbon sources (like wood, coal, and oil), which is causing more carbon to be trapped in the atmosphere, and less carbon being stored as coal, wood, and oil.
Complete the carbon cycle activity in your Geography book.
