Answer:
Carbon is an element and is part of the oceans, air, rocks, soils and living things, it does not stay in one place.
In the atmosphere, it combines with oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2). With the help of the sun, through photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is extracted from the air and converted into food.
Through food chains, carbon from plants goes to the animals that feed on them. Animals that eat other animals also obtain carbon through their food.
When plants and animals die, their bodies, wood, and leaves decompose in the soil. Part of the decomposed matter is buried and after millions and millions of years, it becomes fossil fuel.
Each time you breathe out, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Animals and plants get rid of the gas through the process known as respiration.
The carbon from fossil fuels goes into the atmosphere when the fuel is burned. When humans burn fossil fuels to power their factories, power plants, cars, and trucks, most of the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide gas. Every year, five and a half billion tons of carbon are released in the form of fossil fuels burned. Of the large amount of carbon released by fuels, only 3.3 billion tons penetrate the atmosphere, and most of the rest is dissolved in the seawater.
The oceans and other bodies of water absorb some of the carbon from the atmosphere. It dissolves in water. Marine animals use carbon to create the material for their skeletons and shells.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. When carbon is deposited on the seabed, it is stored outside the carbon cycle for long periods of time. The amount of limestone deposited in the ocean depends in some way on the amount of shallow, tropical and warm oceans on the planet, because that is where limestone-producing organisms, such as corals, proliferate. Carbon can be released back into the atmosphere if the limestone melts or undergoes metamorphosis in a subduction zone.
