Inside Carbon
Carbon — the crucial building block
Carbon is the essential building block of life and absolutely crucial to our life on Earth - it forms a significant portion of mass and it also plays a vital role in regulating the temperature on earth which makes it habitable. Carbon continuously cycles the atmosphere and provides the energy for life to function.
→EXPLORE CARBONThe Carbon Cycle
This is how it happens
This is how it happens - Carbon from the atmosphere gets locked up by plants (in photosynthesis) and released back into the atmosphere either quickly (by respiration) or slowly by decomposition of organic materials. The carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) so generated, carry carbon to the atmosphere, which along with water vapour, keep our earth warm enough to support life.
human sourcesH₂OWater Vapour& clouds
Sunlight / Infrared
The Earth gets energy from the Sun in the form of sunlight. The Earth's surface absorbs some of this energy and heats up. The Earth cools down by giving off energy called infrared radiation.
However, before all this radiation can escape to outer space; these gases absorb some of it thereby making the atmosphere warmer. As the atmosphere becomes warmer, it also makes the Earth's surface warmer and life flourishes. There is a balance of carbon that must be maintained and if this is disturbed, our life can go topsy turvy.
As human beings, our collective responsibility is to ensure we do not disturb the natural equilibrium achieved by the carbon cycle in maintaining the temperature of the earth at the level mandated by the natural flow of CO2, CH4 and water vapour. By adding carbon to the atmosphere, in the form of carbon dioxide and methane generated by burning fossil fuels, faster than the natural processes adopted by H2O, CO2 and CH4, we disturb the balance, and this leads to climate change. We must avoid this because the damage can be irreversible.
Video - 60 seconds from a child’s POV: Reinforcing the simplicity of carbon issues and the net zero urgency. Uplifting and solution-forward tone. Paired with graphic CO2 data overlays.