How do the Carbon Dioxide

and Oxygen Cycles Work?

The oxygen cycle and carbon cycle are closely interconnected. After plants
release carbon dioxide into the air, humans and animals take in the oxygen
and breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants use the carbon dioxide again,
repeating the cycle.
The processes that use oxygen are breathing, decomposing, rusting and
combustion. Breathing, or respiration, enables humans and animals to use
oxygen when inhaling and transform oxygen into carbon dioxide upon
breathing out. Decomposing is another process that uses up oxygen and
releases carbon dioxide. Decomposers, such as microbes and fungi, digest
waste carbon-based material from animals. They also respire and give off
carbon dioxide into the air. Rusting, also called oxidation, involves the use
of oxygen when something rusts. In combustion, oxygen, fuel and heat are
necessary to create fire.
The major process that produces oxygen is photosynthesis, which is used
by plants to produce food and energy. Plants are responsible for creating
the majority of oxygen that humans and animals need. Through the oxygen
and carbon cycles, the amount of available oxygen and carbon in the
atmosphere is balanced.