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 The Carbon Cycle Article

Instructions:
 Number the paragraphs
 1st Read Through: Read article and figure out what the main idea is and summarize the main idea
of article in 2 complete sentences
 2nd Read Through: Highlight main ideas from the article, box key terms that relate to the carbon
cycle.
 Fill in the Graphic Organizer using your annotated article
 Create your reader response using a piece of blank paper

Introduction to the Carbon Cycle

Carbon is an essential element in the bodies of living organisms. It is also economically important to
modern humans, in the form of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken up by
photosynthetic organisms and used to make organic molecules, which travel through food chains. In the
end, the carbon atoms are released as carbon dioxide in respiration. Slow geological processes, including
the formation of sedimentary rock and fossil fuels, contribute to the carbon cycle over long timescales.
Some human activities, such as burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, increase atmospheric carbon
dioxide and affect Earth's climate and oceans.

Carbon: building block and fuel source

About 18% of your body consists of carbon atoms, by mass, and those carbon atoms are pretty key to
your existence! Without carbon, you wouldn't have the plasma membranes of your cells, the sugar
molecules you use for fuel, or even the DNA that carries the instructions to build and run your body.

Carbon is part of our bodies, but it's also part of our modern-day industries. Carbon compounds from
long-ago plants and algae make up the fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, that we use today as
energy sources. When
these fossil fuels are
burned, carbon dioxide
is released into the air,
leading to higher and
higher levels of
atmospheric CO2. This
increase in CO2 levels
affects Earth's climate
and is a major
environmental concern
worldwide. Let's take a
look at the carbon cycle
and see how
atmospheric CO2 and
carbon use by living
organisms fit into the
bigger picture of
carbon cycling.
The carbon cycle

The carbon cycle is most easily studied as two interconnected sub cycles: one dealing with rapid carbon
exchange among living organisms and one dealing with long-term cycling of carbon through geologic
processes. Although we will look at them separately, it's important to realize these cycles are linked. For
instance, the same pools of atmospheric and oceanic CO2 that are utilized by organisms are also fed and
depleted by geological processes.

As a brief overview, carbon exists in the air largely as carbon dioxide gas, which dissolves in water and
reacts with water molecules to produce bicarbonate -HCO3−. Photosynthesis by land plants, bacteria, and
algae converts carbon dioxide or bicarbonate into organic molecules. Organic molecules made by
photosynthesizers are passed through food chains, and cellular respiration converts the organic carbon
back into carbon dioxide gas.

Long-term storage of organic carbon occurs when matter from living organisms is buried deep
underground or sinks to the bottom of the ocean and forms sedimentary rock. Volcanic activity and, more
recently, human burning of fossil fuels bring this stored carbon back into the carbon cycle. Although the
formation of fossil fuels happens on a slow, geologic timescale, human release of the carbon they
contain—as CO2 is on a very fast timescale.

The biological carbon cycle

Carbon enters all food webs, both terrestrial and aquatic, through autotrophs, or self-feeders. Almost all
of these autotrophs are photosynthesizers, such as plants or algae. Autotrophs capture carbon dioxide
from the air or bicarbonate ions from the water and use them to make organic compounds such as
glucose. Heterotrophs, or other-feeders, such as humans, consume the organic molecules, and the organic
carbon is passed through food chains and webs.

How does carbon cycle back to the atmosphere or ocean? To release the energy stored in carbon-
containing molecules, such as sugars, autotrophs and heterotrophs break these molecules down in a
process called cellular respiration. In this process, the carbons of the molecule are released as carbon
dioxide. Decomposers also release organic compounds and carbon dioxide when they break down dead
organisms and waste products. Carbon can cycle quickly through this biological pathway, especially in
aquatic ecosystems. Overall, an estimated 1,000 to 100,000 million metric tons of carbon move through
the biological pathway each year. For context, a metric ton is about the weight of an elephant or a small
car!

The geological carbon cycle

The geological pathway of the carbon cycle takes much longer than the biological pathway described
above. In fact, it usually takes millions of years for carbon to cycle through the geological pathway.
Carbon may be stored for long periods of time in the atmosphere, bodies of liquid water—mostly
oceans— ocean sediment, soil, rocks, fossil fuels, and Earth’s interior.
The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is influenced by the reservoir of carbon in the oceans and
vice versa. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in water and reacts with water molecules in
the following reactions:
CO2+H2O⇌H2CO3⇌HCO3−+H+⇌CO32−+2H+
The carbonate —CO32−— released in this process combines with Ca2+ ions to make calcium carbonate
CaCO3—a key component of the shells of marine organisms When the organisms die, their remains may
sink and eventually become part of the sediment on the ocean floor. Over geologic time, the sediment
turns into limestone, which is the largest carbon reservoir on Earth.
On land, carbon is stored in soil as organic carbon from the decomposition of living organisms or as
inorganic carbon from weathering of terrestrial rock and minerals. Deeper under the ground are fossil
fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas, which are the remains of plants decomposed under anaerobic—
oxygen-free—conditions. Fossil fuels take millions of years to form. When humans burn them, carbon is
released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Another way for carbon to enter the atmosphere is by the eruption of volcanoes. Carbon-containing
sediments in the ocean floor are taken deep within the Earth in a process called subduction, in which one
tectonic plate moves under another. This process forms carbon dioxide, which can be released into the
atmosphere by volcanic eruptions or hydrothermal vents.
Human impacts on the carbon cycle
Global demand for Earth’s limited fossil fuel reserves has risen since the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution. Fossil fuels are considered a nonrenewable resource because they are being used up much
faster than they can be produced by geological processes.
When fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the air. Increasing use of fossil fuels has led
to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2. Deforestation—the cutting-down of forests—is also a major
contributor to increasing CO2 levels. Trees and other parts of a forest ecosystem sequester carbon, and
much of the carbon is released as CO2if the forest is cleared
Some of the extra CO2 produced by human
activities is taken up by plants or absorbed by the
ocean, but these processes don't fully counteract
the increase. So, atmospheric CO2 levels have risen
and continue to rise. CO2 levels naturally rise and
fall in cycles over long periods of time, but they are
higher now than they have been in the past
400,000 years, as shown in the graph to the right:
Why does it matter that there is lots of CO2 in the
atmosphere? CO2 is a greenhouse gas. When in the
atmosphere, it traps heat and keeps it from
radiating into space. Based on extensive evidence,
scientists think that elevated levels of CO2 and
other greenhouse gases are causing pronounced
changes in Earth's climate. Without decisive changes to reduce emissions, Earth's temperature is
projected to increase by 1 to 5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100.
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 Carbon Cycle Graphic Organizer

The main idea of the article is _____________________________________________________________________

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Supporting Paragraph
Detail/Statement from Reading
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Vocabulary: (unknown, important, or repeated that relate to the overall idea of the article)

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Write two Costa’s questions based on the reading &
the answer.