Carbon Cycle:

In addition to the atmosphere, carbon is stored in three reservoirs - solid earth, oceans and land
surface. Carbon moves between these reservoirs. For example, plants on land surface uptake
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and with water and sunlight, create organic carbon (leaves
etc.) and release oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. When leaves fall from trees, they
decompose and release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. When animals eat plants,
they get energy from oxygen and food (All carbohydrates and proteins contain carbon) and
release carbon dioxide.

Likewise under the right conditions, with enough rainfall and temperature, the carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere gets converted into sedimentary rocks in a process called weathering. During
volcanic activities, the carbon in the sedimentary rocks is released into the atmosphere in the
form of carbon dioxide. The entire process could take a very long geological time (millions of
years).

When living organisms such as plants and animals (they have carbon in them) die, they get
buried deep in the earth. Over a long geological period, they get converted (with high
temperatures and pressures) into fossils and some of them into fossil fuels such as coal, oil and
natural gas.

Warmer parts of oceans, too, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and numerous marine
organisms use the carbon to make their shells. When these organisms die, they get buried
underneath the ocean and form sedimentary rocks.