Climate Action
The Carbon Paradox: Essential for Life, Central to Crisis
July 11, 2025
What Carbon Is — and What It Isn’t
Carbon often gets framed as the villain in climate change — but in truth, it’s the element that makes life possible. It’s in your DNA, the food on your plate, and the air you exhale. Carbon atoms are the building blocks of organic molecules, capable of forming chains and structures that drive nearly every biological process.
Scientifically, carbon is element number 6 on the periodic table. It is small but incredibly versatile, able to form strong bonds with other elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. That versatility is why it appears in everything from proteins and fossil fuels to wood and plastic.
But when people talk about “cutting carbon,” what they usually mean is cutting carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is a heat-trapping gas that’s released when carbon bonds with oxygen during combustion, respiration, and decay. Conflating carbon with carbon dioxide oversimplifies the problem. The issue isn’t carbon itself, but rather where it’s accumulating.
How Carbon Moves — and Where It’s Getting Stuck
Carbon dioxide constantly cycles through our planet’s air, oceans, soil, and living things. This is called the carbon cycle, and it’s what keeps Earth in balance.
Plants pull CO₂out of the atmosphere during photosynthesis and turn it into sugars. Animals eat those plants (or other animals who ate those plants through the carbon transfer process), and the carbon moves through the food chain. When organisms die, some carbon returns to the atmosphere through decomposition, while the rest is stored in soil, rock, or water. Over millions of years, that stored carbon can become fossil fuels, like oil and coal
But our carbon balance is now in flux. Human activities, including deforestation, fossil fuel combustion, construction and building works as well as industrial farming, are rapidly releasing ancient carbon stores that have been sequestered in geological formations like rocks, deep soils, and permafrost for thousands to millions of years, overwhelming the capacity of the Earth’s natural systems to reabsorb them.
This overload is pushing the carbon cycle out of sync. Forests that once acted as significant carbon stocks are aging, and absorbing less CO₂ over time. In some areas, wildfires are releasing stored carbon in our trees essentially back into the atmosphere almost instantly. Soils degraded by over-tilling and chemical inputs are losing their carbon content, making them less fertile and more prone to erosion and flooding. And in the Arctic, thawing permafrost is releasing methane and carbon dioxide that had been frozen for thousands of years.
Instead of circulating smoothly and steadily through ecosystems, carbon dioxide is building up in our atmosphere. Acting like a thermal blanket, CO₂ absorbs heat radiating from Earth’s surface and re-emits it back towards the planet, trapping warmth and driving climate change. .
Small Gas, Big Heat
Even though CO₂only makes up about 0.04% of the atmosphere, its influence is enormous.
Other atmospheric gases like nitrogen and oxygen don’t interact with heat this way. They let thermal energy pass through. But CO₂, along with methane and nitrous oxide, traps it.
This greenhouse effect is not inherently bad. In fact, it’s the reason Earth isn’t a frozen wasteland. But since the Industrial Revolution, human-caused emissions have intensified this natural process. Today, there’s more heat entering Earth’s system than escaping it.
And carbon dioxide doesn’t dissipate quickly. Once emitted, it can persist in the atmosphere for hundreds, even thousands, of years. That means today’s emissions will continue warming the planet for generations to come.
Carbon Sinks — Nature’s Storage Systems
Thankfully, not all CO₂ stays in the atmosphere. About half of the carbon dioxide released by human activity each year is absorbed by carbon sinks — forests, oceans, wetlands, and soils that pull more carbon in than they let out.
Forests play a big role here. Trees absorb carbon as they grow, and that carbon stays stored in their trunks, leaves, and roots. Rainforests and peatlands are especially powerful, with the latter covering just 3% of Earth’s land but storing twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.
The ocean is another massive sink. It has taken in about 30% of all emissions since the Industrial Revolution, thanks largely to plankton and cold surface waters that absorb CO₂ from the air.
Soils, too, are carbon vaults. Healthy soils are full of organic carbon, which supports microbes, fungi, and plant growth. Practices like no-till farming and cover cropping increase soil carbon, while fuel-intensive farming depletes it.
But these sinks are under stress. Deforestation around the world, including in both our wet and dry forests, has turned some regions from carbon sinks into carbon sources. That is why they produce more CO₂ than they absorb. Plus, ocean warming is disrupting circulation patterns, reducing the sea’s ability to absorb CO₂ as well. Intensive agriculture has degraded soil so severely that it has slashed its carbon storage capacity by 50–75%, pushing once-fertile land toward desertification and threatening long-term ecosystem stability.
Carbon Solutions — It’s Bigger Than Footprints
More than 70% of global emissions since 1988 have come from just 100 companies. That’s why systemic solutions in policy, energy, agriculture, and finance are key.
One powerful example: large-scale public investment in renewable energy infrastructure. By transitioning electric grids away from fossil fuels and scaling clean energy access, especially in underserved communities, we can reduce emissions at the source while building a more just and resilient energy future.
Nature-based solutions, like reforestation and regenerative agriculture, offer lower-cost, high-impact alternatives. Replanting forests, restoring mangroves, which absorb more CO₂ than any other tree type, and applying compost to cropland all draw carbon down from the sky and out of the atmosphere.
Soil carbon initiatives, like those that reward farmers for adding organic matter, improve both climate outcomes and food production. For instance, practices such as cover cropping and reduced tillage help restore soil structure, increase microbial activity, and enhance water retention. As farmers adopt these regenerative methods, not only does the soil sequester more carbon from the atmosphere, but crop yields often improve due to healthier, more resilient ecosystems. Programs that offer financial incentives for these practices are gaining traction globally, turning farms into carbon sinks while also supporting food security in the face of climate stress.
These approaches also build resilience to droughts, protect biodiversity, and create green jobs. To put it simply, they’re part of a powerful toolkit.
The Carbon We Keep — and the One We Release
Carbon isn’t the enemy. It’s the thread that connects biology, geology, and climate. It helps mushrooms grow and coral reefs form. It strengthens soil, builds cells, and fuels life. 18.5% of a human’s body mass is carbon — so the problem isn’t carbon itself — it’s what we’ve done with it.
By digging up ancient carbon stores and overloading the atmosphere, we’ve unbalanced a system millions of years in the making. Rebalancing it means protecting the sinks we have, restoring the ones we’ve lost, and stopping the flow of emissions at the source.
Carbon’s not the villain. The real threat is carbon dioxide; too much of it, in the wrong place, for too long.
The Canopy Project is working to restore forests, improve local ecosystems, and combat climate change through global reforestation efforts. Your donation helps plant trees in communities most vulnerable to environmental degradation, supporting both biodiversity and climate resilience. Even a small contribution can have a lasting impact, like sequestering carbon, improving air and water quality, and empowering communities around the world. Join the movement and help grow a healthier planet, one tree at a time.
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