![\"deforestation](\"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/forest-3718793_1280-1-300x185.jpeg\")
\r\n\r\n<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/h1>\r\nWhat is the carbon cycle?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/h1>\r\n
What is the carbon cycle?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/h1>\r\n
Carbon is an essential element for life on Earth<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. The carbon cycle<\/a> describes the way in which carbon flows between different reservoirs on Earth. These include trees, soils, rocks, oceans, animals and the atmosphere<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. Essentially, it is the process in which carbon travels from the atmosphere into organisms and the Earth and then back into the atmosphere again<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. Parts of the cycle store carbon for different lengths of time, and there are many processes that move carbon in and out of the stores<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Plants exchange carbon with the atmosphere every day as they make and use carbohydrates for energy<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.<\/span> Therefore, trees take up carbon dioxide from the atmopshere to make their own food and grow<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.<\/span> Finally, this carbon will only return into the atmosphere when the tree dies and decays or is burnt during deforestation<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. Therefore, trees and forests can balance the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by using it up or storing it within their structure.<\/p>\r\n When forests are cleared by deforestation, less and less trees are available to contribute to the carbon cycle. When we cut down the trees, we remove a dense growth of plants that had carbon stored in the wood, stems, and leaves – known as biomass<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. By clearing a forest, we wipe out plants that would otherwise absorb carbon out of the atmosphere as they grow<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. We tend to replace these carbon-rich plants and trees with crops or pasture, which store less carbon<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n This means an excess amount of carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for thousands of years<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. This acts as a blanket to the earth, trapping heat and resulting in increasingly high temperatures. This is particularly important today because humans are pumping carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere at an alarming rate. If there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this accelerates global warming and contributes to global climate change<\/span>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The carbon cycle is vital for life on Earth. In other words, it is definitely important that we help maintain a carbon balance<\/a> to allow our planet to remain hospitable for life<\/span>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>. This can be done partially by planting more trees to absorb the excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere<\/span>15<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>as well as using other methods of decreasing CO2 emissions. By doing so, we can lock the carbon away within the tree structure and keep it out of the atmosphere. Hence, planting trees can be a part of the global measures to combat climate change<\/span>16<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Deforestation is the process by which people are cutting down forests to create land for activities like agriculture, logging, or burning fossil fuels. Deforestation is playing a detrimental role in climate change and global warming by having an effect on the global carbon cycle. To understand how and why this is happening, we must first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":2070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,27],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\r\n\r\n<\/h1>\r\n
What role do forests play?<\/h3>\r\n
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![\"deforestation](\"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/photosynthesis-process-illustration-labelled-design-89735421-281x300.jpeg\")
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How does deforestation link to the carbon cycle?<\/h3>\r\n
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What should we be doing better?<\/h3>\r\n
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