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Carbon dioxide molecules
Carbon is all around us. This unique atom is the basic building block of life, and its compounds form solids, liquids, or gases. Download this movie.
Keeping Up With Carbon
Source: NASA Goddard Media Services
[08-Oct-2009] Carbon is all around us. This unique atom is the basic building block of life, and its compounds form solids, liquids, or gases. Carbon helps form the bodies of living organisms; it dissolves in the ocean; mixes in the atmosphere; and can be stored in the crust of the planet. A carbon atom could spend millions of years moving through this complex cycle. The ocean plays the most critical role in regulating Earth's carbon balance, and understanding how the carbon cycle is changing is key to understanding Earth's changing climate. Credit: NASA GSFC, The SeaWiFS Project, and GeoEye.