The Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle

• The Northern Hemisphere has more land mass and thus more room for ecosystems to absorb and emit carbon.

Carbon Cycle Processes

• Carbon leaves the terrestrial biosphere through respiration, decomposition, and disturbance.

Carbon Pools

• The largest pool of actively cycled carbon in the world is the ocean.
• The largest active pool of carbon near the surface of the Earth is the soil.

Ocean Acidity

• The process called when the increase in atmospheric CO2 shifts the pH of the ocean towards neutral is ocean acidification.

Greenhouse Effect

• Water vapor contributes more to the global greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide.

Carbon Forms

• The main forms of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and carbon monoxide (CO).

Carbon Reservoirs

• The major reservoirs of carbon in the global carbon cycle are the atmosphere, oceans, land, and fossil fuels.

Carbon Cycle Components

• Photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and fossil fuel combustion are major components of the carbon cycle.

Carbon Storage and Release

• The term used to describe the long-term processes of carbon storage and release is carbon sequestration.

Fast and Slow Carbon Cycle

• The distinction between the fast and slow carbon cycle is the timescale: the fast carbon cycle operates on a timescale of years to decades, while the slow carbon cycle operates on a timescale of thousands to millions of years.