Photosynthesis: - Converts atmospheric carbon to biomass via sunlight, aiding plant growth, and enters food chain, released through respiration and decomposition., Respiration: - Living organisms emit carbon to the atmosphere by breaking down glucose for energy, releasing CO2 and methane., Combustion: - Burning living, dead, or decomposed biomass, including peat soils, releases stored carbon to the atmosphere, often due to wildfires., Decomposition: - Post-mortem breakdown by bacteria and fungi transfers carbon from dead biomass to the atmosphere and soil, releasing CO2 and methane, while some carbon goes into soil as humus., Ocean Uptake: - CO2 dissolves directly from the atmosphere into the ocean, transferred by marine organisms like plankton. Carbon-rich deep ocean water rising to the surface releases CO2 back into the atmosphere., Weathering: - Chemical weathering shifts atmospheric carbon to the hydrosphere and biosphere as rain reacts with rocks, dissolving them. The resulting molecules can wash into the sea, reacting with dissolved CO2 to form calcium carbonate used by sea creatures for shells., Sequestration: - Atmospheric carbon is sequestered in sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels formed over millions of years from dead plant and animal material in the ocean. Fossil fuel carbon is released when burned.,

Carbon Flows

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