Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atomosphere of the Earth.
In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide. Plants use this carbon dioxide with sunlight to create their own food and grow. Carbon then becomes part of the plant. Plants that die and are buried might turn into fossil fuel over million of years. When humans burn fossil fuels, the carbon qucikly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and gets trapped in the atmosphere and helps keep the Earth warm. |
(Picture from https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/images/carboncycle_sm.jpg)
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The Nitrogen Cycle
80% of the air in the atmosphere is nitrogen. However, human bodies do not use all the nitrogen that we get ny breathing. But-like all living things- human bodies need nitrogen. Human bodies get all the nitrogen need to grow from food.
Most plants get the nitrogen they need from soil. Nitrogen fertilizers help add huge amounts of nitrogen to soil, lakes, and rivers. Nitrogen fertilzers helpplants grow larger and faster. Water full of nitrogen cause plants and algae to grow very fast but then die all at once when there are too many for the environment to support. |
(Picture from http://www.eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/images/nitrogencycle_sm.jpg)
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How These Cycles Interact
Plants needs nitrogen to survive. So, nitrogen keeps them alive. But plants also need carbon to help them create energy. So, both nitrogen and carbon play a part in keeping plants alive.