Our Relation to the Carbon Cycle and
Earth’s Energy Budget
Almost everything human’s use require a form of energy. Unfortunately, fossil fuel is the source of energy we use to sustain ourselves. Fossil fuels emit large quantities of greenhouse gas, which increases the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
Our relationship to the carbon cycle and Earth’s energy budget has multiple layers. Almost everything we use requires a form of energy. To power technology, we burn fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels releases copious amounts of carbon back into the atmosphere.
As stated before, we use fossil fuels everyday. Fossil fuels are dead organisms, which have been decomposed for millions of years. The decomposed bodies still retain majority…
When fossil fuels are burned, it release large amounts of carbon, which results in the atmosphere releasing a reduced amount of energy. The outcome of the reduction of energy released is that the Earth temperature slowly increases. This is what causes global warming
Global Carbon Cycle
All organic matter contains carbon and carbon can also be found in environmental objects such as the air, ocean and rocks. Much like the earth, Carbon is constantly moving, whether it’s throughout the air, ocean or living objects. On earth, carbon is found in a compound called “Carbon Dioxide”, which is made up of 1 carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms.
The carbon cycle is one of the cycles of the earth. As the name suggests, the carbon cycle is the cycle of carbon in its compound form. There are multiple ways the cycle starts. One of them starts with plants:
Plants require carbon dioxide in order to survive. They acquire the carbon dioxide via the leaves. When plants die, they can be buried by natural means and turn into fossil fuels. This process would take millions of years. If and when people burn the fossil fuel, the remaining carbon atoms are quickly exposed to the atmosphere and are turned back into carbon…
The energy budget also records the amount of each kind of energy is used.
Majority of Earth’s energy originates from the sun. Coal, oil, biomass, wind, hydropower and natural gas are all results of the suns rays hitting Earth. The sun’s energy can either be absorbed or reflected from Earth. NASA studies show that 29% of the sun’s rays are reflected back into space, however the remaining 71% enters the atmosphere. 23% of that energy remains in the atmosphere while 48% heats the oceans, lakes, land and the lower altitudes. Also, The atmosphere absorbs some of the energy that is emitted from Earth’s surface.
The atmosphere retains some of the heat and energy via atmospheric windows and clouds. These clouds and atmospheric windows all emit their own energy. As well as clouds, greenhouse gases, the leading cause of global warming, maintain and refrain heat from leaving the oxygen hence why the globe is heating up. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, which is why the greenhouse gas levels are rising at an alarming…
