Question

4After completing their study of the carbon cycle, three students wrote statements making claims related to this topic. Read each claim carefully and choose the claim(s) that is (are) incorrect. Claim 1: When forests are cleared, we take away an opportunity to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Claim 2: Carbon moves through biological systems and returns to the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Claim 3: The amount of carbon involved in rapid cycling is much less than 1 percent of the total amount of carbon on Earth.

Answer 1

Answer:

Incorrects:

Claim 1: When forests are cleared, we take away an opportunity to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Claim 2: Carbon moves through biological systems and returns to the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

Claim 3: The amount of carbon involved in rapid cycling is much less than 1 percent of the total amount of carbon on Earth.

Explanation:

• The carbon contained in forest products makes a small and manageable contribution to the global carbon balance.  Globally, the net effect on atmospheric concentration is negligible, unless the rate of decomposition in geographically displaced product stocks is different from that in the forest ecosystem from which it was removed. However, controlling these rates through proper management can lead to some degree of mitigation of increases in atmospheric CO2.
• During the carbon cycle, animals and plants release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through cellular respiration, and plants capture carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
• The amount of carbon involved in rapid cycling it is the largest since it includes the carbon exchange between living beings, and is intertwined with the carbon cycle through long-term geological processes