BookRags.com Literature Guides Literature
Guides
Criticism & Essays Criticism &
Essays
Questions & Answers Questions &
Answers
Lesson Plans Lesson
Plans
My Bibliography Periodic Table U.S. Presidents Shakespeare Sonnet Shake-Up
Research Anything:        
History | Encyclopedias | Films | News | Create a Bibliography | More... Login | Register | Help

Search "Carbon Cycle"

Contents Navigation
 

Carbon Cycle

Print-Friendly  Order the PDF version  Order the RTF version
About 6 pages (1,823 words)
Carbon cycle Summary

Bookmark and Share Questions on this topic? Just ask!

Carbon Cycle

All life on Earth is based on carbon, the sixth element of the periodic table. The term carbon cycle refers to the movement of carbon in various forms between Earth's biogeochemical reservoirs: the oceans, the atmosphere, plants, animals and soils on land (the land biosphere), and the geosphere (rocks). Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air traps heat, contributing to warmingof Earth's surface (called the greenhouse effect) and thereby influencing the climate. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels and clearing forests are causing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to increase rapidly. Concern that global climate change may result has led to a pressing need for scientific research to better understand the global carbon cycle.

The Path of Carbon

To illustrate some of the important processes of the carbon cycle one can follow a carbon atom as it moves through the biogeochemical reservoirs of the cycle. Begin with a carbon atom that is in the atmosphere in the form of CO2. In the atmosphere CO2 is the fifth most abundant gas, behind nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), argon (Ar), and water vapor (H2 O). Nevertheless, of every million molecules of air, fewer than four hundred are CO2.

This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This article contains 1,823 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page).

Read the rest of this Article with our Carbon Cycle Access Pass.

Ask any question on Carbon cycle and get it answered FAST!
Answer questions in BookRags Q&A and earn points toward
discounted or even FREE Study Guides and other BookRags products!
Learn more about BookRags Q&A
Copyrights
Carbon Cycle from Macmillan Science Library: Plant Sciences. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. All rights reserved.

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags




About BookRags | Customer Service | Report an Error | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy