Summary:

The video describes the carbon cycle at an introductory level. It describes the natural carbon cycle, and each step of the process while highlighting the fact that through this cycle the Earth can flourish. It also talks about how fossil fuels have upset the expected carbon cycle, and how we are seeing the repercussions of these events.

Why watch this video?

1. Have you ever wondered why the carbon cycle is vital to Earth?
2. Have you ever questioned the effects of fossil fuels on the Earth’s natural processes?
3. Have you ever wanted to know the reasoning behind rising carbon levels?

Key terms:

1. Greenhouse gases: Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation
2. Carbon cycle: A process in which carbon compounds are connected by the environment and transferred between organisms and the atmosphere by photosynthesis and respiration.
3. Fossil fuels: a fuel formed by a natural process that contains energy originally coming from earliest photosynthesis.

Loose ends:

1. The video talks about how carbon has always cycled thought he biosphere, atmosphere, and ocean. This is a factual statement but neglects to explain to the person watching what these terms mean. The biosphere is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. The atmosphere is defined as a layer, or set of layers, that surround the Earth or any other planet.
2. The video mentions the greenhouse effect, which is vital to understanding the videos main points. The greenhouse effect is the trapping of the sun’s warmth by a planet’s lower atmosphere, causing the planet to be warmer than it would be without its atmosphere.
3. The video also talks about carbon emissions that first came about in the industrial revolution. It stresses how carbon emissions can have a very negative effect on the Earth but neglects to inform us what those carbon emissions are. Carbon emissions are gases that are carbon-containing gases released through processes such as the use of fossil fuels like oil, coal, natural gas, and through biomass burning.

Self test questions: