It is possible, as a result of the media attention given to climate change, that greenhouse gas emissions and global warming provide the impression that carbon is an undesirable element altogether.
Carbon is a vital component of all living matter, forming around 18% of its mass – almost 100 times greater than the Earth’s average carbon content of only 0.19%.
In fact, living organisms extract carbon from their inorganic environment and after they die it must be recycled.
Natural processes cause the movement of carbon between four major stores or reservoirs:
– The atmosphere
– The terrestrial biosphere (including freshwater systems, soil carbon and inorganic material)
– The oceans (including dissolved inorganic carbon & marine biota)
– Marine sediments (including fossil fuels and sedimentary rock)
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