Humans are affecting this natural cycle, mostly by the burning of fossil fuels, manufacturing of cement, and removal of forestry, as seen in red in Figure 4 below. This cycle occurs rapidly, as a typical molecule of CO 2 spends only about 5 years in the atmosphere. The ocean also cycles CO 2 with the atmosphere, done in an almost perfect balance. The natural carbon cycle is kept very nearly in balance animals and plants emit CO 2 to the atmosphere through respiration, while plants absorb it through photosynthesis. Natural Carbon Cycleīoth carbon dioxide and methane, along with all other forms, are natural parts of the carbon cycle, which is the composite of all forms of carbon on the planet found anywhere from the ocean to the upper layers of the atmosphere. This increase is known to be due to human activities, primarily the combustion of fossil fuels and removal of forests. The climate forcing effect of methane is about 1/3 that of carbon dioxide, so it is considered the second most important greenhouse gas. These levels had been relatively stable for around 10 thousand years prior to this. The amount of each of these in the atmosphere has been increasing rapidly: the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by about 35% in the industrial era, and methane by about 250%. Methane (CH 4), carbon monoxide and black carbon are all present in the atmosphere, and each have varying effects on the planet. The management of CO 2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels is a central technological, economic, and political concern. Although greenhouse gases are necessary for the habitable temperatures on the Earth (click here for more info), the increase of these gases in the atmosphere contribute to global warming. The burning of these hydrocarbons produces carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas meaning that it absorbs and re-emits infrared radiation back to the Earth as seen in Figure 3, producing a climate change effect. Carbon dioxide is able to interact with infrared radiation, leading to an imbalance of radiation entering and leaving the atmosphere. Different types of hydrocarbons produce different amounts of carbon dioxide, with those found in coal producing the most. A hydrocarbon reacts with molecular oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water vapour, as seen in Figure 2. The process of hydrocarbon combustion is how energy is harnessed from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels provide most of the world's electricity, along with providing by far the most dominant transportation fuels like gasoline and diesel. Hydrocarbons are the primary constituent of fossil fuels, namely natural gas, petroleum, and coal, which is where a large amount of the world's energy comes from. They make up the fuels the world uses to get most of its primary energy - around 95% - and when we use them to get this energy, one of the products that is made is CO 2. Hydrocarbons are molecules which contain carbon and hydrogen. Hydrocarbons and CO 2 are very closely linked, as will be explored in the next section. Although there are over 10 million compounds of carbon, energy science is primarily concerned about a select few: Carbon by itself isn't necessarily an issue, however its inclusion in other molecules is where interesting things start to happen. Carbon by itself is important in the world, as it bonds with itself to form diamonds, graphite and other forms of carbon. Ĭarbon and its different compounds play a large role in the world we live in. Carbon is unique because of its four valence electrons which make it very versatile and allow it to bond with many other elements including itself with over 10 million known compounds containing carbon. Ĭarbon ( C) is the 6 th element on the periodic table, and also happens to be the 6 th most abundant element in the universe. Carbon, atomic weight of 12.011 and atomic number of 6.
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