Carbon Cycle - Relevance For The Global Climate

Relevance For The Global Climate

Carbon-based molecules are crucial for life on earth, as it is the main component of biological compounds. Carbon is also a major component of many minerals. Carbon also exists in various forms in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is partly responsible for the greenhouse effect and is the most important human-contributed greenhouse gas.

In the past two centuries, human activities have seriously altered the global carbon cycle, most significantly in the atmosphere. Although carbon dioxide levels have changed naturally over the past several thousand years, human emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere exceed natural fluctuations. Changes in the amount of atmospheric CO₂ are considerably altering weather patterns and indirectly influencing oceanic chemistry. Records from ice cores have shown that, although global temperatures can change without changes in atmospheric CO₂ levels, CO₂ levels cannot change significantly without affecting global temperatures. Current carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere exceed measurements from the last 420,000 years and levels are rising faster than ever recorded, making it of critical importance to better understand how the carbon cycle works and what its effects are on the global climate.