Chemical Reactions and Reservoirs
The chemical reactions involved in the carbon cycle are so routine that most people don’t even realize that just about everything they do is involved with some aspect of the carbon cycle. Every breath, every death, every birth, every lit match, every piston fired if it involves anything that is alive, or was ever alive, anything that involves that magic six proton atom can significantly impact all life on earth. One reaction that we all are very familiar is that of cellular respiration. In this reaction, oxygen is used to brake down carbohydrates, which results in energy, CO2, and H2O. The CO2 and some water vapor is released every time any animal breaths. CO2 is also released in many exothermic reactions, some natural, others synthetic. These natural reactions include: forest fires, volcanic eruptions, and volcanic vents. The synthetic reactions include the burning of: gasoline, diesel fuel, coal, peat, and natural gas. The major problem is that CO2 is a green house gas and the burning of fossil fuel releases old CO2 that would have lain dormant under the earths surface and there is more CO2 in the atmosphere then the earth can naturally filter into manageable levels. The earth would naturally do this through one of two processes, photosynthesis and water dissolving. For the most part water dissolving is when water dissolves carbon from dead material and waste products and brings it pulls it down into the earth. The other more effective way is photosynthesis, this reaction is the exact opposite of cellular respiration and during this process, plants convert CO2, water, nutrients and sunlight into carbohydrates and cellulose. The issue is that due to deforestation caused by man the rates of photosynthesis is dropping witch in turn serves to increase CO2 levels. The carbon cycle is essential to life, but if we keep screwing with it, it just might be the end of us.
The scientific definition of “Organic” is contains Carbon. Therefore, there are not any inorganic reservoirs of carbon reserves. There are however, several organic reservoirs including:
- the troposphere
- anything that is alive
- anything that was alive at some point
- oil under the earths surface in the middle east, Venezuela, and the U.S.
- coal under the Earth’s surface in the U.S., China, and Russia
- Most types of rock and sediment
Pretty much anything that the average person comes in contact with and most of what everything needs to survive contains some carbon