BIOLOGY PROJECT

Chapter: Natural Resources

CARBON CYCLE
&
THE GREENHOUSE
EFFECT
MADE BY: Soneera
CLASS: IX-B
 CARBON

Carbon is the chemical

backbone of life on Earth.

CARBON ATOM
Carbon is the fourth most abundant
element in the universe with the
atomic number 6. A carbon atom is
considered to be special and unique
because it can bond with other
carbon atoms to an almost unlimited
degree .

ALLOTROPES

Allotropy is the property of an element in which the

elements exist in more than one physical form having
similar chemical properties but different physical
properties. Important allotropes of carbon include
diamond, graphite, and fullerene.
 IMPORTANCE OF CARBON

Carbon is important for every known living

system, and life could not exist without this
element.

It can be available in hydrocarbons forms other

than food and wood, such as methane gas, crude
oil, and fossil fuel.

The different forms include:

- carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
- carbonate and hydrogencarbonate salts in
various minerals
- all life-forms which are based on carbon-
containing molecules like proteins, carbohydrates,
fats, nucleic acids and vitamins.
- the endoskeletons and exoskeletons of various
animals formed from carbonate salts.
CARBON CYCLE
What is the carbon cycle? All of the
carbon we currently have on Earth is the
same amount we have always had. When
new life is formed, carbon forms key
molecules like protein and DNA. It's also
found in our atmosphere in the form of
carbon dioxide or CO2. The carbon cycle
is nature's way of reusing carbon atoms,
which travel from the atmosphere into
organisms in the Earth and then back
into the atmosphere over and over again.
Most carbon is stored in rocks and
sediments, while the rest is stored in the
ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms.
These are the reservoirs, or sinks,
through which carbon cycles.
 How does Carbon move?
Carbon moves from the atmosphere to plants. In
the atmosphere, carbon is attached to oxygen in
a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2). Through the
process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is
pulled from the air to produce food made from
carbon for plant growth.
Carbon moves from plants to animals. Through
food chains, the carbon that is in plants moves
to the animals that eat them. Animals that eat
other animals get the carbon from their food
too.
Carbon moves from plants and animals to soils.
When plants and animals die, their bodies, wood
and leaves decays bringing the carbon into the
ground. Some is buried and will become fossil
fuels in millions and millions of years.
 Carbon moves from living things to the
atmosphere. Each time you exhale, you are
releasing carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into the
atmosphere. Animals and plants need to get
rid of carbon dioxide gas through a process
called respiration.
Carbon moves from fossil fuels to the atmosphere
when fuels are burned. When humans burn fossil
fuels to power factories, power plants, cars and
trucks, most of the carbon quickly enters the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Each year, five
and a half billion tons of carbon is released by
burning fossil fuels. Of this massive amount, 3.3
billion tons stays in the atmosphere. Most of the
remainder becomes dissolved in seawater.
Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the
oceans. The oceans, and other bodies of
water, absorb some carbon from the
atmosphere. The carbon is dissolved into the
water.
 HUMAN IMPACTS: FOSSIL FUELS

In the natural carbon cycle, there are two main processes which
occur: photosynthesis and metabolism. During photosynthesis,
plants use carbon dioxide and produce oxyge and during
metabolism oxygen is used and carbon dioxide is a product.
Humans impact the carbon cycle during the combustion of any
type of fossil fuel, which may include oil, coal, or natural gas. Fossil
Fuels were formed very long ago from plant or animal remains
that were buried, compressed, and transformed into oil, coal, or
natural gas. The carbon is said to be "fixed" in place and is
essentially locked out of the natural carbon cycle.
Humans intervene during by burning the fossil fuels. During
combustion in the presence of air (oxygen), carbon dioxide
and water molecules are released into the atmosphere. The
question becomes as to what happens to this extra carbon
dioxide that is released into the atmosphere. This is the
subject of considerable debate and about it possible effect in
enhancing the greenhouse effect which may than result in
global warming.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Identified by scientists as far back as 1896, the
greenhouse effect is the natural warming of the
earth that results when gases in the atmosphere
trap heat from the sun that would otherwise escape
into space.

THE GREENHOUSE ANALOGY

The soil, pots, plants, and so on inside a
greenhouse are warmed by the sunlight that shines
through its transparent walls and roof. The air
inside the greenhouse is then warmed by contact
with the warm objects. If the door and ventilation
windows are closed, the warm air can’t escape, so
the temperature of everything in the greenhouse
goes up.
 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND
GLOBAL WARMING

For most of the past 800,000 years—

much longer than human civilization has
existed—the concentration of greenhouse
gases in our atmosphere was between
about 200 and 280 parts per million. (In
other words, there were 200 to 280
molecules of the gases per million
molecules of air.) But in the past century,
that concentration has jumped to more
than 400 parts per million, driven up by
human activities such as burning fossil
fuels and deforestation. The higher
concentrations of greenhouse gases—and
carbon dioxide in particular—is causing
extra heat to be trapped and global
temperatures to rise.