Final answer:
The carbon cycle involves rapid exchange among organisms and slower geologic processes, affected by human activities like burning fossil fuels and causing global warming. Abiotic processes also contribute to the long-term storage of carbon in various reservoirs.
Step-by-step explanation:
Evaluating the Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle is a fundamental aspect of Earth's biosphere involving the movement of carbon through the planet's various systems. Within this biogeochemical cycle, carbon is exchanged rapidly among living organisms, which is a part of the short-term cycle. In contrast, the carbon cycles through geologic processes over longer periods, constituting the long-term cycle.
Living organisms contribute to the carbon cycle mainly through the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Plants absorb CO2 during photosynthesis, reducing atmospheric carbon, while animals and plants both emit CO2 during respiration.
Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, have accelerated the release of carbon into the atmosphere, greatly impacting climate change by increasing carbon dioxide levels. This anthropogenic alteration of the carbon cycle is a global environmental concern due to its association with global warming.
Abiotic processes such as the formation of fossil fuels, weathering of rocks, and the dissolution of CO2 in oceans are slower components of the carbon cycle. These processes often take thousands to millions of years and involve the storage of carbon in long-term reservoirs such as sediment, soil, and the deep ocean.