Moving Carbon
Data Story
Interpret scatter plots showing population and carbon emissions of seven countries and write a headline for a story you see in the graph.
Welcome to this Tuva data story! We know carbon in its many forms: carbon as sugar and carbohydrates in food, carbon as cellulose in wood, carbon as solid coal and as liquid oil, and carbon in the form of gas such as methane and carbon dioxide. Carbon changes its molecular form through chemical reactions such as photosynthesis, respiration, and combustion. These reactions can transfer carbon from one Earth system to another. They can also transform carbon from one state of matter to another, such as from CO2 gas to a carbohydrate solid. The combustion of fossil carbon (such as coal, oil, and gas) by humans moves a large amount of solid carbon from Earth’s lithosphere to the atmosphere, driving up the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere. Increased carbon in the atmosphere traps Earth’s heat, warming the climate. This data story explores how much carbon dioxide is emitted by several different countries. Click Next to get started!
Topics and standards: Science, Earth Science, Human Impacts, ESS2.A, Pollution & Waste, Flow of Energy and Matter, Grades 9-12, Grades 6-8, Headlines and Captions, Climate & Global Change, Earth System Interactions