How is carbon exchanged between biosphere and hydrosphere and burning of fossil fuels upset the balance of the carbon dioxide cycle?
Carbon is exchanged between the biosphere (living organisms) and the hydrosphere (water bodies) through various natural processes. The carbon dioxide (CO2) cycle involves the movement of carbon between these two spheres and the atmosphere, and it is essential for maintaining the Earth's carbon balance.
Burning fossil fuels, however, disrupts this balance and contributes to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Here's how these processes work:
Carbon Exchange between Biosphere and Hydrosphere:
Burning of Fossil Fuels and Carbon Balance Disruption:
Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels are composed of carbon-rich organic matter that has been buried and preserved for millions of years. When burned for energy, the carbon stored in these fuels is rapidly released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This disrupts the natural carbon cycle in several ways:
The burning of fossil fuels upsets the natural balance of the carbon dioxide cycle by releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide that had been stored for millions of years. This disrupts the carbon cycle, contributes to climate change, and has far-reaching impacts on ecosystems and the environment. Efforts to mitigate the effects of burning fossil fuels include transitioning to cleaner energy sources and implementing carbon capture and storage technologies.
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is taken up in both the hydrosphere, as it dissolves into the oceans and in the biosphere as it is inhaled by trees and converted photosynthetically into organic plant matter.Carbon enters the geosphere through the biosphere when dead organic matter becomes incorporated into fossil fuels like coal and organic-matter-rich oil and gas source rocks, and when shells of calcium carbonate become limestone through the process of sedimentation. The "biological pump" is the photosynthetic up take of atmospheric carbon dioxide by ocean microorganisms, resulting in long-term sequestration of carbon in the deep ocean via particle sinking, where is it removed from contact with the atmosphere for millions of years if the particles reach the bottom and are buried in. Plants constantly exchange carbon with the atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and much of this carbon dioxide is then stored in roots, permafrost, grasslands, and forests. Plants and the soil then release carbon dioxide when they decay. Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are important components of the carbon cycle, in which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and geosphere through chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes. Cellular respiration and photosynthesis are important parts of the carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is the pathways through which carbon is recycled in the biosphere. While cellular respiration releases carbon dioxide into the environment, photosynthesis pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels, changing land use, and using limestone to make concrete all transfer significant quantities of carbon into the atmosphere. As a result, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rapidly rising; it is already greater than at any time in the last 3.6 million years. Fossil fuels consist mainly of carbon and hydrogen. When fossil fuels are combusted (burned), oxygen combines with carbon to form CO2 and with hydrogen to form water (H2O). These reactions release heat, which we use for energy. Fossil fuels are derived from the burial of photosynthetic organisms, including plants on land and plankton in the oceans. While buried, this carbon is removed from the carbon cycle for millions of years to hundreds of millions of years. Fossil fuels contain large quantities of carbon that were deposited and sequestered millions of years ago, effectively removing it from active circulation for an extended period of time.
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