Carbon Basics
The element that cycles between the atmosphere, oceans, land, and living things.
Carbon
The main greenhouse gas involved in the carbon cycle.
carbon dioxide (CO₂)
The group of molecules—like proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids—that all contain carbon.
organic molecules
The cutting down of trees that reduces carbon storage.
Deforestation?
The largest carbon sink on Earth.
oceans
The main molecule plants make during photosynthesis that contains carbon.
Glucose
The gas produced when fossil fuels are burned.
CO₂?
The process plants use to capture carbon and energy from the sun.
Photosynthesis
The burning of these materials releases ancient carbon.
fossil fuels
The place where carbon can be stored for millions of years as fossil fuels.
underground rock formations (coal, oil, natural gas deposits)?
The process by which carbon moves from plants and animals back into the atmosphere.
Respiration
The cycle process that removes CO₂ from the air and puts it into plants.
Photosynthesis
The process animals use to release CO₂ by breaking down food.
cellular respiration
The main human activity causing ocean acidification.
CO₂ emissions from burning fossil fuels?
The term for carbon moving between reservoirs (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere).
fluxes
The process that breaks down dead organisms, releasing carbon.
Decomposion
The type of rock that forms when marine organisms use carbon to build shells.
Limestone
The organisms that break down dead matter, recycling carbon.
decomposers?
The practice of capturing and storing CO₂ underground.
carbon capture and storage
The process by which volcanoes release carbon into the atmosphere.
outgassing?
The long-term storage of carbon in rocks and fossil fuels.
carbon sequestration
The human activity that has most increased CO₂ levels since the Industrial Revolution.
Burning fossil fuels
The role of phytoplankton in the ocean carbon cycle.
absorbing CO₂ through photosynthesis
The global effect of too much CO₂ in the atmosphere.
climate change (global warming)?
The process of carbon moving from the atmosphere into ocean water.
diffusion (or absorption)