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Is human activity primarily responsible for global climate change
Effects of man's activities on the environment
Impact of human activity on the environment
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Nitrogen, Carbon and Phosphorus Cycles
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.
The cycle works in a very basic way. First, carbon is taken from carbon dioxide found in the air. Plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it, combined with water they get from the soil, to make substances they need for growth. The carbon is then mixed with water. Carbon dioxide is then formed into sugar (glucose). The process of photosynthesis incorporates the carbon atoms from carbon dioxide into sugars.
Animals attain carbon by feeding on plants and other animals. Animals eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues. The animals get rid of the carbon dioxide in a process called respiration in which an organism supplies its tissues and cells with the oxygen and relieves the tissues and cells of carbon dioxide. Some animals, however, get rid of carbon dioxide only when they breathe, and when they die, the carbon is returned to the soil during decomposition. Carbon items continue to be recycled over and over. For instance the carbon atoms may then be used in a new plant or small microorganisms. Ultimately, the same carbon atom can move through many organisms and even end in the same place where it began. Combustion is another way in which carbon is returned into the atmosphere. Oil, gasses, wood and coal use this process. Molecules combine with oxygen and then convert into water and carbon dioxide and also release light and heat.
Humans play a ...
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... of dust in the air. It condenses when it hits the dew point. When it condenses it becomes a liquid again or turns into either ice, hail, rain, sleet or, snow. These water particles eventually come together and form clouds. Precipitation in the form of ice, rain, sleet, snow and hail comes from clouds. Clouds move around the world, propelled by air currents. Water vapor is also emitted from plant in a process called transpiration. Excessive rain or snowmelt can produce overland flow to creeks and ditches. Runoff is visible flow of water in rivers, creeks and lakes as the water stored in the basin drains out.
Bibliography:
Sources Consulted
1. Environment textbook by Raven, Berg, Johnson
2. "Science in the World Around Us" by: David Lancer
3. "Discover the Environment" by: Lori Klien
4. www.Encarta.com
5. http://library.thinkquest.org/11226
Photosynthesis consists of the following equation: Sun light Carbon dioxide + Water = = == == ==> Glucose + Oxygen Chlorophyll Chlorophyll is a substance found in chloroplasts, found in the cells of leaves.
This chemical is used to catch the light energy needed in photosynthesis. They take carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis.
Before learning about photosynthesis, I thought this was just a way for plants to grow, not knowing the full detail that goes on inside the plant for it to grow. So, after learning about what photosynthesis is and how it truly works, it is something that is remarkable and how plants are really the only living thing that uses this process. Photosynthesis is the process of taking in carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a gas that is exhaled from animals and goes into the air and is absorbed into a plant, water (H2O) which is absorbed through the roots of a plant or known as capillary action, sunlight is absorbed through chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll or better known as the leaves of the plant. With the photosynthesis process, the plant can create a by-product known as oxygen gas which is released through the little pores into the atmosphere (Simon, Dickey, Hogan & Reece, n.d.).
The process of photosynthesis is present in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and is the process in which cells transform energy in the form of light from the sun into chemical energy in the form of organic compounds and gaseous oxygen (See Equation Below). In photosynthesis, water is oxidized to gaseous oxygen and carbon dioxide is reduced to glucose. Furthermore, photosynthesis is an anabolic process, or in other words is a metabolism that is associated with the construction of large molecules such as glucose. The process of photosynthesis occurs in two steps: light reactions and the Calvin cycle. The light reactions of photosynthesis take place in the thylakoid membrane and use the energy from the sun to produce ATP and NADPH2. The Calvin cycle takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast and consumes ATP and NADPH2 to reduce carbon dioxide to a sugar.
When people burn fossil fuels to accumulate and produce energy a substance called carbon is produced. Carbon is released into the air in a form known as carbon dioxide. Carbon moves throughout the biosphere on the planet as it is recycled and reused. Carbon exists in the earth’s atmosphere in two common forms which are methane and carbon monoxide. These gases absorb and retain heat in a process known as the greenhouse effect. The Planets natural greenhouse effect makes life possible by regulating our temperature. It turns out that adding too much to the greenhouse effect can have horrible consequences on the environment. Each year, five and a half billion tons of carbon is released by burning fossil fuels and of that three billion tons enters the atmosphere. The remaining carbon usually gets absorbed by the oceans.
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is known to be one of a number of gases that are astonishingly transparent to the visible light that falls on the Earth from the Sun, but it absorb the infra-red radiation that emitted by the warm surface of our Earth, to prevents its loss into space. Moreover, CO2 has varied considerably and this affected the Earth’s temperature. Most common source of this CO2 is known as the fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are primarily coal, hydrocarbons, natural gas, or fuel oil that formed from the remains of the dead plants and also animals. The burning fossil fuel that has been created by humans is the largest source of emissions of the carbon dioxide.
“Photosynthesis (literally, “synthesis from light”) is a metabolic process by which the energy of sunlight is captured and used to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into carbohydrates (which is represented as a six-carbon sugar, C6H12O6) and oxygen gas (O2)” (BioPortal, n.d., p. 190).
Photosynthesis is a process in plants that converts light energy into chemical energy, which is stored in bonds of sugar. The process occurs in the chloroplasts, using chlorophyll. Photosynthesis takes place in green leaves. Glucose is made from the raw materials, carbon dioxide, water, light energy and oxygen is given off as a waste product. In these light-dependent reactions, energy is used to split electrons from suitable substances such as water, producing oxygen. In plants, sugars are produced by a later sequence of light-independent reactions called th...
Microbial decomposition releases nutrients into the environment that are needed by other organisms. Microbes are also involved in the cycling of many other important compounds in — and between — ecosystems, including oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. Many microbes use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, which we need to breathe. As they do this, they create new organic material — themselves — which are then eaten by other organisms. In this way, the cycling of nutrients and energy
Photosynthesis is a process in which plants and other organisms convert the light energy from the sun or any other source into chemical energy that can be released to fuel an organism’s activities. During this reaction, carbon dioxide and water are converted into glucose and oxygen. This process takes place in leaf cells which contain chloroplasts and the reaction requires light energy from the sun, which is absorbed by a green substance called chlorophyll. The plants absorb the water through their roots from the earth and carbon dioxide through their leaves.
A simple definition of precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds in the sky. Precipitation includes rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, and hail. So with that being said let's take a look at these different forms of precipitation.
A major part of the carbon cycle occurs as carbon dioxide is converted to carbohydrates through photosynthesis. Carbohydrates are utilized by animals and humans in metabolism to produce energy and other compounds. Carbohydrates are initially synthesized in plants form a complex series of reactions involving photosynthesis. They store energy in the form of starch or glycogen in animals and humans. They provide energy through metabolism pathways and cycles. Carbohydrates also supply carbon for synthesis of other compounds. (Berdanier, Pgs 45-47).
Humans and animals breathe out Carbon Dioxide, often referred to as the greenhouse gas, as a waste product. Plants take in this CO2 and use it to make food. This is called photosynthesis. During this process oxygen is released which is then breathed in by humans and animals. This procedure is repeated over and over and a natural balance is obtained. However this natural balance is disrupted by human activity. People of the world are putting more than 5.5 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. 75% of this is caused from the burning of fossil fuels. These fuels are burnt all the time to run factories, power plants and vehicles. The main sources of CO2 emissions are electric utilities, residential buildings, industry and transportation. The other 25% is induced by the destruction of the world's forests. The reason for this is that there are less trees and plants to take in the CO2 but there is just as many, if not more, humans and animals to breathe it out.
According to scientists, photosynthesis is “the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.” ("pho•to•syn•the•sis,")
Photosynthesis is a cycle plants go through converting light into chemical energy for use later. Photosynthesis starts in the chloroplasts, they capture chlorophyll, an important chemical needed for photosynthesis. Chloroplasts also take water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and glucose. The chlorophyll is taken to the stroma, where carbon dioxide and water mix together to make