Fiducia TogetherThe carbon cycle
How carbon moves between the atmosphere, oceans, rocks and living things.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
Carbon cycles through stores — atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, soil, fossil fuels, sedimentary rock — via flows including photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, combustion and ocean exchange.
Where it applies
GCSE geography, and it overlaps with biology.
How it works
The cycle is broadly balanced over long periods. Human activity has added flows — burning fossil fuels transfers carbon from a very slow store to the atmosphere far faster than natural processes remove it — and deforestation reduces the uptake.
That imbalance is the mechanism of climate change.
How to use it in your work
Use the language of stores and flows, and say which store and which flow.
When explaining human impact, name the flow that changed and the store it moved carbon from and to. That is the difference between a description and an explanation.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's specification — options differ enormously between centres, and yours is the one that counts. Bitesize covers the skills; the subject song runs the topics.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Geography Song The GCSE geography topics, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.