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Windows to the Universe based on data from NOAA and UCSD

The Carbon Cycle Changes

Carbon moves around the Earth through the carbon cycle. It can move between the atmosphere, the water, living things, and even rocks. Today, the carbon cycle is changing. More carbon is moving into the atmosphere from other parts of the Earth. It moves into the atmosphere when fuels like coal and oil are burned. It moves into the atmosphere when forests burn too.

The carbon in the atmosphere is a part of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases keep heat in the atmosphere. With more carbon dioxide, Earth is becoming warmer.

Carbon dioxide can spend hundreds of years in the atmosphere. Over a long time, it can move slowly out of the atmosphere and into plants. The plants take the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as they make their food from the Sun’s energy. Carbon can also move into ocean water or be stored in rocks. Scientists are studying how carbon moves out of the atmosphere.

Last modified October 26, 2007 by Lisa Gardiner.

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