The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. It is one of the most important cycles of the earth and allows for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms. Has it always been the same? A reconstruction of plant productivity and the amount of carbon stored in the ocean and terrestrial biosphere at the last ice age has just been published in Nature Geoscience. The research by an international team of scientists greatly increases our understanding of natural carbon cycle dynamics.