Query: The natural cycle adds and removes CO2 to keep a balance; humans add extra CO2 without removing any.

Relevant passages:
Carbon sequestration <=SEP=> Carbon sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide . Carbon sequestration involves long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to mitigate or defer global warming . It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases , which are released by burning fossil fuels .   Carbon dioxide is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological , chemical , and physical processes . Artificial processes have been devised to produce similar effects , including large-scale , artificial capture and sequestration of industrially produced using subsurface saline aquifers , reservoirs , ocean water , aging oil fields , or other carbon sinks .

Climate change mitigation <=SEP=> Climate change mitigation consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change . Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human ( anthropogenic ) emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) . Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks , e.g. , through reforestation . Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming .   According to the IPCC 's 2014 assessment report , `` Mitigation is a public good ; climate change is a case of the ` tragedy of the commons . Effective climate change mitigation will not be achieved if each agent ( individual , institution or country ) acts independently in its own selfish interest ( see international cooperation and emissions trading ) , suggesting the need for collective action . Some adaptation actions , on the other hand , have characteristics of a private good as benefits of actions may accrue more directly to the individuals , regions , or countries that undertake them , at least in the short term . Nevertheless , financing such adaptive activities remains an issue , particularly for poor individuals and countries . ''   Examples of mitigation include phasing out fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources , such as renewable and nuclear energy , and expanding forests and other `` sinks '' to remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Energy efficiency may also play a role , for example , through improving the insulation of buildings . Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering .   Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference of the climate system . Scientific analysis can provide information on the impacts of climate change , but deciding which impacts are dangerous requires value judgments .   In 2010 , Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 ° C ( 3.6 ° F ) relative to the pre-industrial level . With the Paris Agreement of 2015 this was confirmed , but was revised with a new target laying down `` parties will do the best '' to achieve warming below 1.5 ° C . The current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions does not appear to be consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 ° C . Other mitigation policies have been proposed , some of which are more stringent or modest than the 2 ° C limit .

Carbon capture and storage <=SEP=> Carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) ( or carbon capture and sequestration ) is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from large point sources , such as fossil fuel power plants , transporting it to a storage site , and depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere , normally an underground geological formation . The aim is to prevent the release of large quantities of into the atmosphere ( from fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries ) . It is a potential means of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming and ocean acidification . Although has been injected into geological formations for several decades for various purposes , including enhanced oil recovery , the long term storage of is a relatively new concept . The first commercial example was the Weyburn-Midale Carbon Dioxide Project in 2000 . Other examples include SaskPower 's Boundary Dam and Mississippi Power 's Kemper Project . ` CCS ' can also be used to describe the scrubbing of from ambient air as a climate engineering technique .   An integrated pilot-scale CCS power plant was to begin operating in September 2008 in the eastern German power plant Schwarze Pumpe run by utility Vattenfall , to test the technological feasibility and economic efficiency . CCS applied to a modern conventional power plant could reduce emissions to the atmosphere by approximately 80 -- 90 % compared to a plant without CCS . The IPCC estimates that the economic potential of CCS could be between 10 % and 55 % of the total carbon mitigation effort until year 2100 .   Carbon dioxide can be captured out of air or fossil fuel power plant flue gas using adsorption ( or carbon scrubbing ) , membrane gas separation , or adsorption technologies . Amines are the leading carbon scrubbing technology .  Capturing and compressing may increase the energy needs of a coal-fired CCS plant by 25 -- 40 % . These and other system costs are estimated to increase the cost per watt energy produced by 21 -- 91 % for fossil fuel power plants . Applying the technology to existing plants would be more expensive , especially if they are far from a sequestration site . A 2005 industry report suggests that with successful research , development and deployment ( RD&D ) , sequestered coal-based electricity generation in 2025 may cost less than unsequestered coal-based electricity generation today .   Storage of the is envisaged either in deep geological formations , or in the form of mineral carbonates . Deep ocean storage is not currently considered feasible due to the associated effect of ocean acidification . Geological formations are currently considered the most promising sequestration sites . The National Energy Technology Laboratory ( NETL ) reported that North America has enough storage capacity for more than 900 years worth of carbon dioxide at current production rates . A general problem is that long term predictions about submarine or underground storage security are very difficult and uncertain , and there is still the risk that might leak into the atmosphere .

Carbon cycle <=SEP=> The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere , pedosphere , geosphere , hydrosphere , and atmosphere of the Earth . Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component of many minerals such as limestone . Along with the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle , the carbon cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to make Earth capable of sustaining life . It describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout the biosphere , as well as long-term processes of carbon sequestration to and release from carbon sinks .   The global carbon budget is the balance of the exchanges ( incomes and losses ) of carbon between the carbon reservoirs or between one specific loop ( e.g. , atmosphere and biosphere ) of the carbon cycle . An examination of the carbon budget of a pool or reservoir can provide information about whether the pool or reservoir is functioning as a source or sink for carbon dioxide . The carbon cycle was initially discovered by Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier , and popularized by Humphry Davy .