What disruption to the carbon cycle would increase the amount of carbon in the environment?

The carbon cycle is one of the primary biogeochemical cycles and depicts the various pathways through which carbon cycles through the environment. There are various sources and sinks of carbon in the cycle. Any disruption in the cycle may either increase or decrease the amount of carbon in the environment. If any sink (a reservoir that accumulates and contains something) of carbon were disturbed or removed, the result would be more carbon in the environment.

Plants consume carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis (in addition to water) and convert it, in the presence of sunlight, into glucose and oxygen. If plants were removed from the cycle, a major carbon sink would be absent, yet the producers of carbon (such as human beings and animals) would stay in the cycle and hence the amount of carbon in the environment would increase.

Thus, deforestation (or any removal of plants) is an example of a disruption that increases the amount of carbon in the environment.

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