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Sediment
This is the area of the carbon cycle that mankind is interfearing with the most. The carbon in this area would likely remain untouched if we were not using it as fuels.
- Carbon can be held in sediments for millions of years. Sediments are fossil fuels which are buried deep underground that have taken millions of years to form. Coal and oil being the most obvious ones.
- By burning these fossil fuels we are returning carbon to the atmosphere which has been held in the sediment of thousands, or even millions of years.
Many scientists believe that the earth has a natural balancing system, meaning it will compensate for there being more carbon released into the atmosphere by altering the oceans to absorb more, thus keeping the planet in equilibrium. Whether this actually occurs is yet to be proven, but the world is finely balanced, hence the need for us to reduce the amount of carbon we are emitting as much as possible.