natural carbon cycle

Meaning

1. 1nounsingulartechnicalbiologychemistry

   the way carbon moves naturally between the air, water, soil, and living things without human activity.

   Grammar: Usually used with 'the' and treated as a singular idea: the natural carbon cycle is...

   Patterns

   • the natural carbon cycle
   • part of the natural carbon cycle
   • disrupt the natural carbon cycle

   Forests play an important part in the natural carbon cycle.

   Scientists study the natural carbon cycle to understand how much carbon the oceans can hold.

   Burning fossil fuels adds carbon much faster than the natural carbon cycle can remove it.

Common combinations

the natural carbon cycle

The natural carbon cycle keeps carbon levels fairly steady over long periods.

part of the natural carbon cycle

Decay is a key part of the natural carbon cycle.

disrupt the natural carbon cycle

Heavy industry can disrupt the natural carbon cycle.

the balance of the natural carbon cycle

The balance of the natural carbon cycle depends on plants and oceans.

Synonyms and how they differ

carbon cycle

The short form; it can include human effects, while 'natural carbon cycle' stresses the part that happens without people.

biogeochemical cycle

A wider scientific term for the movement of any element through living things and the earth.

Word family

carbon noun

The chemical element that moves through this cycle.

cycle noun

A series of events that repeats in the same order.

Commonly confused: natural carbon cycle or carbon footprint?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “natural carbon cycle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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