The Carbon Cycle
Humans: OffYear 1850280 ppm CO₂Controls
Human activity
Fossil fuel burning
Deforestation
Events
Speed
Start hereThe cycle is balanced: carbon flows in circles and the air holds near 280 ppm. Turn Human activity on, then watch the air fill and the buried carbon drain.
280
CO₂ ppm
13.8°
Avg temp C
0.0
Net to air
Carbon piled up in the air since 1850
0GtC
0 ppm above the 280 baseline
Into vs out of the air (GtC/yr)
Into the air
210
Out of the air
210
In balance. What enters the air each year also leaves it.
CO₂ over time
How each pool is changing
5,0001.00xFossil
38,0001.00xOcean
1,5001.00xSoil
5501.00xPlants
5961.00xAir
Dashed ring = the pool's size in 1850. The disc grows past it or shrinks inside it as carbon moves. The ocean holds far more than every other pool combined, yet even it barely budges.