Energy from Respiration is Essential for All Living Organisms

Respiration occurs in all living organisms, it is the process of mixing glucose from cells that has been stored inside the organism from various sources, with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water and energy (however energy is not a substance) the specific word equation for cellular aerobic (in the presence of oxygen) is glucose and oxygen → carbon dioxide, water and energy. This energy produced can then be used for essential life processes and growth.

For plants, plant roots, photosynthesizing algae and bacteria, the respiration process begins with photosynthesis. The organism uses energy from the sun to combine with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water to form carbohydrates, which are stored in the cells as starch, and this starch is broken down in smaller molecules such as glucose when this energy is required. Then, the plant diffuses oxygen from the atmosphere through the stomata, which are small holes in the leaf, this oxygen is mixed with the stored glucose in the cells to make carbon dioxide, which is a waste product of respiration, a small amount is left behind and stored for photosynthesis. Some of the water that is produced is evaporated as water vapor through the stomata and the lenticels, and the energy is used for various processes of the organism.

Animals such as insects, mammals, reptiles, birds and aquatic animals all have different respiratory systems, however the basic process of respiration remains the same, glucose obtained from consumption of food sources is mixed with oxygen from the atmosphere in the cells, and carbon dioxide which is one of 2 waste products is released back into the atmosphere. Like plants, the energy that has been produced from respiration is used to perform life processes. ...

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... sediment. This sediment eventually forms limestone, this limestone is forced under the earths surface through heat and pressure, it forms a metamorphic rock, which is then rises back up further where hot spots under the earth a present, and eventually this carbon is released again in the form of volcanic matter, such as magma and rock, where once again it is back in the atmosphere. The cycle can continue from the sediment on the ocean floor to the formation of oil, in the right combinations of heat and pressure. The carbon remains in both the limestone and oil for millions of years, the carbon that is stored in oil continues the cycle when it is drilled and combusted by humans, this releases all the carbon back into the atmosphere, and the cycle begins again. The carbon cycle consists of many interlinked stages, and without it life on earth could not be sustained.