Intrusion into the Carbon Cycle
In the carbon cycle, as long as the average amount of carbon dioxide hair and in water remains the same, a happy situation prevails. If the tendency is for it to increase. a point will come when some animals will find it intolerable for their breathing. If the tendency is for carbon dioxide to decrease, then. over a large number of years. a point will be reached when plants would not be able to photosynthesise and produce oxygen for animal life. So. we can see how important it is to maintain a balance in this cycle.
In the present century, the carbon cycle has been impaired by non-judicious utilisation of fossil fuels, indiscriminate cutting of forests and changes in land use from agriculture to the cement and concrete roads and buildings, which reduces the area under plantation. We see enormous amount of smoke emanating from some of our industries, vehicles, accidental fires, aeroplanes, and some also from kitchens. This adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in amounts much larger than can be tackled in natural course.
Carbon dioxide input has been increasing since the beginning of Industrial Revolution some 100 years ago, and since then its concentration has increased considerably in the atmosphere. The major concern over increased carbon dioxide content, is its possible effect on the temperature of the air surrounding the earth. Excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere tends to trap the heat radiated by the earth.