5 questions about climate change

3. Where does all the carbon we release go? | Kristen Bell + Giant Ant

Where does all the carbon we release go??Carbon works in a natural cycle, present in all living things:?in the soil, in the oceans, in the atmosphere?and in?rocks?deep?underground.??When plants and other living things die,?much of their?stored?carbon makes its way back to the atmosphere?until new?plants grow and?reabsorb?the carbon.

reabsorb: re+absorb

absorb

But over millions of years,?some of the carbon stored in?ancient?trees and sea life becomes?rock?and some becomes?fossil?fuels:?coal, oil and natural gas.?Natural events like?volcanic?eruptions?release some of the carbon?trapped?in rock.?And human activities, like burning fossil fuels,?also release?some?of that?prehistoric?carbon.

ancient?

fossil?fuels?

coal

volcanic?eruptions

trap

prehistoric?

Today, humans release around 60 times more carbon?than all the volcanoes on the?planet?each year.?That?overloads?Earth's?carbon cycle?and?builds?up?in the atmosphere?and oceans.

overloads?

Planting?more trees will help, but?trees alone?can't get us to net zero.?There's only one sure way to?stop global warming.?We must stop releasing this?excess?carbon into our air.

excess?