Carbon Cycling Internal
Achievement Standard Science 90953:
Demonstrate understanding of carbon cycling
Carbon Cycling Internal
What is the Carbon Cycle?
Carbon is a key component in all living organisms and can be found in both living and nonliving organisms. Organisms will continue to contain carbon even when they change or decay. Carbon is found in a variety of living things and can exist as a solid e.g coal and diamonds, a liquid e.g crude oil or a gas, for example CO2 (carbon dioxide). Often, carbon is referred to as the “building blocks of life” as living things are based on carbon or carbon dioxide. The quantity of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere and on Earth itself is a fixed amount, though it is always …show more content…
The addition of carbon includes sediments and sedimentary rocks, coal, oil and gas, soil/organic matter and vegetation being burned and termed “burning of fossil fuels”. This is part of the addition of carbon to our atmosphere. All of the grey boxes (listed above) are burnt in order to produce carbon in the form of a gas- known as carbon dioxide (CO2). Another way that carbon is added into our atmosphere is through the respiration process of animals which releases carbon dioxide. Carbon can also be added by burning forests, once the timber is alight it will produce CO2. Finally, fossil fuels can also be derived from the sea from the decayed bodies of sea life which is yet another form of addition of carbon to our atmosphere. In terms of removal, plants carry out photosynthesis as part of their respiration process, this involves them taking in carbon dioxide (and water) in order to produce oxygen and glucose. The other method of carbon removal from our atmosphere is “carbon dioxide exchange”, this involves the oceans taking in the carbon dioxide which was in the atmosphere. The colder and rougher the seas are, the more carbon it is able to diffuse and according to the University of Waikato “at present, there is 60 times as much carbon in the ocean as there is in the …show more content…
A report published in 2013 states that “New Zealand 's dairy cattle numbers continue to grow with latest figures putting the head count at 6.6 million” later adding “Statistics New Zealand said today that the past year 's increase continues a trend which started in 2006 and means there are now 1.5 dairy cattle for every New Zealander.” This shows how our dairy cow industry has dramatically increased just within the last few years. This is because one of New Zealand’s prime exports is dairy and because of this they are constantly trying to increase the amount of cattle they have. Unfortunately, for the environment this has a significantly bad outcome as cow’s waste produce large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. Though, 200 years ago this would have been nowhere near as big of a problem as it is nowadays. That’s because the dairy industry was nowhere near as profitable as it is now and often people would have their own cow or know of someone who did and would use that as a source of
Achievement Standard Science 90953:
Demonstrate understanding of carbon cycling
Carbon Cycling Internal
What is the Carbon Cycle?
Carbon is a key component in all living organisms and can be found in both living and nonliving organisms. Organisms will continue to contain carbon even when they change or decay. Carbon is found in a variety of living things and can exist as a solid e.g coal and diamonds, a liquid e.g crude oil or a gas, for example CO2 (carbon dioxide). Often, carbon is referred to as the “building blocks of life” as living things are based on carbon or carbon dioxide. The quantity of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere and on Earth itself is a fixed amount, though it is always …show more content…
The addition of carbon includes sediments and sedimentary rocks, coal, oil and gas, soil/organic matter and vegetation being burned and termed “burning of fossil fuels”. This is part of the addition of carbon to our atmosphere. All of the grey boxes (listed above) are burnt in order to produce carbon in the form of a gas- known as carbon dioxide (CO2). Another way that carbon is added into our atmosphere is through the respiration process of animals which releases carbon dioxide. Carbon can also be added by burning forests, once the timber is alight it will produce CO2. Finally, fossil fuels can also be derived from the sea from the decayed bodies of sea life which is yet another form of addition of carbon to our atmosphere. In terms of removal, plants carry out photosynthesis as part of their respiration process, this involves them taking in carbon dioxide (and water) in order to produce oxygen and glucose. The other method of carbon removal from our atmosphere is “carbon dioxide exchange”, this involves the oceans taking in the carbon dioxide which was in the atmosphere. The colder and rougher the seas are, the more carbon it is able to diffuse and according to the University of Waikato “at present, there is 60 times as much carbon in the ocean as there is in the …show more content…
A report published in 2013 states that “New Zealand 's dairy cattle numbers continue to grow with latest figures putting the head count at 6.6 million” later adding “Statistics New Zealand said today that the past year 's increase continues a trend which started in 2006 and means there are now 1.5 dairy cattle for every New Zealander.” This shows how our dairy cow industry has dramatically increased just within the last few years. This is because one of New Zealand’s prime exports is dairy and because of this they are constantly trying to increase the amount of cattle they have. Unfortunately, for the environment this has a significantly bad outcome as cow’s waste produce large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. Though, 200 years ago this would have been nowhere near as big of a problem as it is nowadays. That’s because the dairy industry was nowhere near as profitable as it is now and often people would have their own cow or know of someone who did and would use that as a source of