Tag: Carbon cycle

According to scientific estimates, over 60% of newly fixed nitrogen each year is assimilated by microorganisms, highlighting the vital importance of this process for life on Earth. This essential biological function is known as assimilation in the nutrient cycle, and it ensures that inorganic elements are converted into usable organic matter for growth and development.

Every living organism, including humans, needs energy to survive, and approximately 30-32 molecules of ATP are produced from the breakdown of just one molecule of glucose during this process. Food is the fuel that provides this energy, but its chemical bonds must first be broken down through a complex series of metabolic reactions, fundamentally converting the organic carbon in food into the inorganic carbon of carbon dioxide.

Did you know that the oxygen we breathe largely comes from the water split during photosynthesis, not from carbon dioxide? This fact is key to understanding where the water in glucose, the energy-rich sugar, truly originates and how the atoms are rearranged during this fundamental biological process.

The Earth's chemical composition is essentially fixed, meaning all matter must be reused. This perpetual movement and regeneration is why we call nutrient cycles cycles, describing a system of continuous recycling between the planet's living and non-living components.

Over 95% of a living organism's mass is made up of just six elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. The cyclic nutrient cycle, also known as a biogeochemical cycle, explains the essential, repeated pathway these elements take as they move between living organisms and the environment.

The global burden of malnutrition is a significant threat to human health, but on a macro scale, living organisms depend on the planet's continuous, natural process of recycling essential elements. This process is the broader, ecological meaning of the nutrition cycle, also known as a nutrient or biogeochemical cycle.

According to the European Environment Agency, soil plays a crucial role in storing and cycling essential elements like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Tracing the origin of these elements reveals that the nutrient cycle has no single starting point, but rather multiple entry points that initiate the flow of life-sustaining materials through ecosystems.

It is estimated that phytoplankton produce at least 50% of the Earth's oxygen, providing the oxygen for every second breath we take. This microscopic marine life is far more than just a source of oxygen; the question of "do humans need phytoplankton?" is a resounding yes, tied to our very existence through atmospheric stability, the food web, and overall planetary health.

According to the IPCC, natural carbon sinks currently absorb roughly half of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions each year. This crucial natural process, along with emerging technological solutions, plays a vital role in answering the question, "Can carbon be absorbed?" and mitigating global climate change.

Over 95% of the mass of all living things is composed of elements like carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen that are continuously recycled through ecosystems. This vital, continuous process, known as the nutrition cycle, or biogeochemical cycle, describes how these essential elements move through different parts of the environment.