Human Impact on the Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Cycles
Danielle Abbadusky
Everest University
Human impact on the cycling matter in ecosystems can change a lot of things. Humans can either help or hurt things. The carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles are the three cycles of matter in ecosystems. What are these cycles? How do humans effect each one of these individual cycles? What are some examples of humans effecting these cycles? What is the carbon cycle? “Sequence of processes through which carbon compounds move from one carbon reservoir or sink (such as forests and oceans) to another (such as atmosphere) and back. Since more carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels and less
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These compounds are taken up by plants as nutrients from the soil and converted into plant proteins (amino acids). Plant proteins become animal proteins when eaten and metabolized by herbivorous animals, and when carnivorous animals eat the herbivorous. These proteins return to the soil through animal excrement and the decomposition of dead animals and plants, and are converted into carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia (gaseous compound of nitrogen and hydrogen) by a set of bacteria in the soil. A portion of this ammonia is converted into soil nitrogen (fixed nitrogen) by another set of bacteria and the balance is released into the atmosphere as free nitrogen (N2).” (nitrogen cycle, n.d.) Human impact on this cycle is very significant. Farmers plant crops such as; peas, beans, and alfalfa. These crops pull nitrogen from the air which helps raise the rate of nitrogen fixation on the land. Farmers also plant corn and wheat which are sprayed with nitrogen derived from industrial fixation. All of these crops help humans to survive. Having these crops benefiting humans we are more than doubling the amount of nitrogen that’s moved from the atmosphere to the land. When sulfur is released by burning fossil fuels, which humans do, this is killing and polluting our lakes and ponds and killing our forests. With these and other chemicals being put into our land, these are reaching our oceans and big areas of water and this will
It starts in the atmosphere, then moves, gets used, and placed into multiple different reservoirs. Nature causes the carbon to move through animals and plants. The fast carbon cycle is measured within a lifespan. It runs through the atmosphere, plants, animals, and soil. The slow carbon takes eons for carbon to move from the reservoirs, consisting of the surface ocean, deep ocean, and fossil fuels.“...takes between 100-200 million years to move” (Riebeeck p.2). Carbon that is stored into abiotic and biotic organisms, creates matter. Without carbon, fossil fuels wouldn’t be created (or anything alive, for that matter.) “Carbon is the backbone of life” (Riebeeck p.1). The carbon cycle somewhat regulates the concentration of carbon in one area by having multiple
The Carbon Cycle is the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, chiefly involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.
Have you ever imagined a world almost completely engulfed in water? Well, if we keep up our way of living all the ice will melt, getting rid of major places on Earth. This ice will melt due to something called climate change. Humans cause climate change because an overwhelming scientific consensus thinks this way, the specific form of carbon dioxide is increasing due to human activity, more greenhouse gases are being released, and the average temperature of Earth is increasing.
The biosphere consists of a compound infusion of gases; the main components are oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. The concentration of these gases have been changing for many years. For the most part, this is influenced by human activity. In a persistent effort to improve the quality and longevity of life, humans (particularly in industrialized societies) have tendencies to negatively impact the environment, and at the same time, we strive to replenish what we have nearly depleted to balance the scale.
to be grown trees have to be cut down and I have explained the effects
The Carbon Cycle is a process necessary to all life forms as carbon is used for photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and is found in all living organisms. This process occurs naturally from cellular respiration, decomposition, and volcanic eruptions. However from burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees at a rapid pace carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere at an artificial rate. The overabundance of atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing for global warming. This global warming is causing extreme havoc to the Earth and all of its life forms. However this damage, although cannot be reversed, can be changed for the better.
Humans are polluting our atmosphere causing the Greenhouse Effect. What’s the Greenhouse Effect? “The Greenhouse Effect can be visualized as follows: imagine that Earth has been encircled by a giant glass sphere. The heat of the sun penetrates through the glass. Some of the heat is absorbed by the Earth, and some is radiated back towards space. The radiated heat reaches the glass sphere and is prevented from dispersing any further”(Global Warming The Facts). This makes the heat bounce back towards the Earth, which heats it up tremendously.
The population on Earth is expanding rapidly which goes hand in hand in the degradation of the environment at large measures. The human’s appetites for needs are disarranging the environments natural equilibrium. Our production industries are venting smoke and discharging chemicals that are polluting our water. The smoke that is emitted into the atmosphere holds unappealing gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. The high
In the beginning the earth was hot and pure lava, then it became covered with
"Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming."
The carbon cycle deals with the interaction of carbon between living organisms and the nonliving environment. This cycle is a process through which all carbon rotates. The main result of the carbon cycle is to serve as a great natural "recycler" of carbon atoms.
What we are doing to stop burning fossil fuels and help the environment is everything we
The United States releases twenty tons of carbon monoxide per person per year. Carbon Monoxide release is a result of burning fossil fuels with an insufficient amount of oxygen that causes the formation of carbon monoxide that pollutes our environment. Everyday fuel is burnt by cars, airplanes, large factories and manufacturing plants. This is causing a very large and deadly problem for our environment. When gases used on earth are released into the atmosphere they act as a blanket and trap radiation that is then redirected to earth. This concept is called the Greenhouse Effect (Bad Greenhouse, 1).
What has changed in the last few hundred years is the additional release of carbon dioxide by human activities. Fossil fuels burned to run cars and trucks, heat homes and businesses, and power factories are responsible for about 98% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, 24% of methane emissions, and 18% of nitrous oxide emissions. Increased agriculture, deforestation, landfills, industrial production, and mining also contribute a significant share of emissions. In 1997, the United States emitted about one-fifth of total global greenhouse gases.
Nearly everything that a human does is in response to the environment. Our lives are defined by what is around us and what we find in front of us, whether this means accepting, dealing with or changing it. This has been the pattern since primates first stood up and became Homo erectus, and has continued until we considered ourselves doubly wise. The shape of the land affected where humans moved. Weather was something with which to contend. Fire affected humans until they conquered it – and herein lies the core of the relationship. The earth affects humans, and humans affect it back, viewing characteristics and patterns as problems and challenges, and finding a solution.