Since 1958 scientist Charles Keeling and others have measured the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in Hawaii. The yearly fluctuations in carbon dioxide are due to seasonal plant growth, while the overall rise in carbon dioxide over many years is due to a combination of fossil fuel burning, deforestation, and cement production.
Click on image for full size
Windows to the Universe based on data from NOAA and UCSD

The Carbon Cycle Changes

Today, the carbon cycle is changing. Humans are moving more carbon into the atmosphere from other parts of the Earth system. More carbon is moving to the atmosphere when fossil fuels, like coal and oil, are burned. More carbon is moving to the atmosphere as humans get rid of forests by burning the trees. Burning wood releases carbon into the atmosphere that had been stored in the tree.

Most of the carbon in the atmosphere is in molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas; it causes heat to be retained in the atmosphere. By increasing the amount of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, Earth is becoming warmer.

Carbon dioxide spends a long time, up to many centuries, in the atmosphere, so even if people stopped adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere now, Earth would continue to warm. The carbon can slowly move back into the biosphere, taken up by plants as they photosynthesize. It can also move into the oceans. And it can be stored in rocks of the geosphere like limestone. Researchers are currently studying these processes and others that move carbon out of the atmosphere.

The carbon cycle has changed throughout the billions of years of Earth’s history. However, prehistoric changes happened for different reasons. The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere increased at times in the past, during the Devonian period of the Paleozoic for example, because of volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes release more than lava and ash. They also send gases, like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Today the amount of volcanic eruptions is very small compared with other times in the past, yet the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is quite high because people are burning forests and fossil fuels.

Last modified October 26, 2007 by Lisa Gardiner.

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Carbon Dioxide - CO2

Carbon dioxide is a colorless and non-flammable gas at normal temperature and pressure. Although much less abundant than nitrogen and oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide is an important constituent...more

Effects of Climate Change Today

The world's surface air temperature increased an average of 0.6° Celsius (1.1°F) during the last century according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This may not sound like very...more

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the name of the process by which autotrophs (self-feeders) convert water, carbon dioxide, and solar energy into sugars and oxygen. It is a complex chemical process by which plants and...more

Organic Sedimentary Rocks

The sediment in an organic sedimentary rock is made of fossils! The mineral parts of animals, such as bones and shells, are much more likely to be preserved than the soft tissues, which typically decay....more

Acid Rain Has Disproportionate Impact on Near-Shore Ocean Waters

The release of sulfur and nitrogen into the atmosphere by power plants and agricultural activities--commonly referred to as acid rain--plays a minor role in making the ocean more acidic on a global scale,...more

World Leaders Developing a New Plan to Help Earth’s Changing Climate

Leaders from 192 nations of the world are trying to make an agreement about how to limit emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, mitigate climate change, and adapt to changing environmental conditions....more

What is Climate?

Climate in your place on the globe is called regional climate. It is the average weather pattern in a place over more than thirty years, including the variations in seasons. To describe the regional climate...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA