Carbon dioxide ice caps, glaciers and seawater. It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas. Carbon dioxide is odorless at normally encountered concentrations. However, at high concentrations, it has a sharp and acidic odor. As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena. Plants, algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water, with oxygen produced as a waste product. It
Ocean storage of carbon dioxide However, organisms are not only affected by the acidification of water in the presence of heightened carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) levels. carbon dioxide itself interacts with the physiological function of individual organisms. These effects are more damaging than those associated with changes in pH of environment. When carbon dioxide enters organisms, through diffusion across tissue, it becomes internally accumulated which can then cause anesthesia and, depending on the concentration of carbon dioxide, death. The internal accumulation will also cause organisms to experience blood acidification. This weakens organisms' ability to uptake oxygen and consequently weakens their performances. This effect is more