Question

During the Carboniferous period, which occurred approximately 360 to 300 million years ago, most of Earth was covered in dense rainforests. These rainforests were sustained by a humid and tropical climate that lasted for most of the Carboniferous period. At the end of the period, Earth's climate became much colder and drier, leading to a wide-scale collapse of the rainforests and a significant loss of vegetation. How might the collapse of the Carboniferous rainforests have affected Earth's carbon cycle?

Answer 1

The collapse of the Carboniferous rainforests have affected the earth carbon cycle as follows;

1. The decline of these carboniferous rainforest would have decreased the amount of carbon in the earth's carbon cycle.

2. Again the amount of carbon in the carbon cycle of the earth would have increased as a result of the decay of this vegetation.

3. The decaying vegetation was likely to reduce by absorbing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

4. These decaying vegetation could have changed into the fossil fuels when buried underground.