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Similar measurements are now being made at a wide range of sites around the
world, including Antarctica. As one might expect at some sites the seasonal cycle
is less pronounced, but the general trend through time remains the same.
Locations of greenhouse gas observing stations
It is difficult to conclude from these short time series what causes the rise in CO2.
Fortunately, bubbles of atmospheric gas are trapped in snow when it falls. In cold
regions of the world such as Antarctica and Greenland, annual layers of snow
are formed that turn into ice and can be measured and dated. Deep drilling
through the ice sheet at Law Dome, in Antarctica for example, has revealed the
evolution of CO2 in the atmosphere over the last 1000 years. Until the beginning
of the industrial revolution levels remained relatively constant at about 208 ppm.
A 3623 metre core taken at Vostok, Antarctica sampled ice as old as 420,000
years. This core showed that CO2 levels had oscillated between approximately
200 and 280 ppm over this period reflecting different glacial and interglacial
periods of the last ice age. The data clearly show that the present levels in the
atmosphere are much higher than at any time over the last 420,000 years.
Estimates obtained from geological and modelling studies indicate that the
present levels in the atmosphere were last experienced on Earth more than 40
million years ago.
New results from the Dome C core in Antarctica (EPICA community members,
2004) extends the climate record back to 740,000 years ago. The new results
show that prior to 430,000 years as recorded in the Vostok core interglacial
periods were less warm, but lasted longer compared to more recent
glacial/interglacial cycles.
The carbon cycle in the diagram above (from Sarmiento and Gruber, 2002)
shows the size of the different ‘reservoirs’ and the fluxes between them for both
the natural carbon cycle and the human (anthropogenic) contribution. It is clear
from these diagrams that the oceans have a dominant role in the carbon cycle
and that the deep ocean is the main long-term depository for carbon. Without the
oceans the rate of increase in atmospheric concentrations of CO2 would be much
greater. The increasing trend in the atmosphere is less than half that of
anthropogenic emissions as a considerable proportion is taken up by the oceans
and land. The take-up of carbon dioxide by seawater is dependent on what is
known as the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2); transfer requires that the
pressure of the gas in the sea is lower than the adjacent air, otherwise
outgassing to the atmosphere takes place. In the sea carbon dioxide reacts with
water to produce bicarbonate and carbonate ions. These products, together with
the small amount of CO2 that remains are known as Dissolved Inorganic Carbon
(DIC). Recent measurements of DIC in the World’s oceans have shown that the
oceans have taken up ~50% and the land ~25% of fossil fuel emissions since the
beginning of industrialisation around 1800. Transfer of carbon to the deep ocean
takes place via two processes known as the solubility and biological pumps.
Atmospheric concentrations a century from now
Carbon is an element fundamental to all life as we know it. Nature has devised a
way to recycle this element, which is called the carbon cycle.
Carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere when plants and animals die and
decompose. The decomposers release carbon dioxide back into the
atmosphere where it will be absorbed again by other plants during
photosynthesis. In this way the cycle of carbon dioxide being absorbed from the
atmosphere and being released again is repeated over and over.
In the carbon cycle the amount of carbon in the environment always remains
the same.
The carbon cycle is the process in which carbon atoms are recycled over and over again
on Earth. Carbon recycling takes place within Earth's biosphere and between living things
and the nonliving environment. Since a continual supply of carbon is essential for all
living organisms, the carbon cycle is the name given to the different processes that move
carbon from one to another. The complete cycle is made up of "sources" that put carbon
back into the environment and "sinks" that absorb and store carbon.
Recycling carbon
Earth's biosphere can be thought of as a sealed container into which nothing new
is ever added except the energy from the Sun. Since new matter can never be
created, it is essential that living things be able to reuse the existing matter again
and again. For the world to work as it does, everything has to be constantly
recycled. The carbon cycle is just one of several recycling processes, but it may be
the most important process since carbon is known to be a basic building block of
life. As the foundation atop which a huge family of chemical substances called
organic substances are formed, carbon is the basis of carbohydrates, proteins,
lipids, and nucleic acids—all of which form the basis of life on Earth.
Since all living things contain the element carbon, it is one of the most abundant elements
on Earth. The total amount of carbon on Earth, whether we are able to measure it
accurately or not, always remains the same, although the carbon regularly changes its
form. A particular carbon atom located in someone's eyelash may have at one time been
part of some now-extinct species, like a dinosaur. Since the dinosaur died and
decomposed millions of years ago, its carbon atoms have seen many forms before ending
up as part of a human being. It may have been part of several plants and trees, free-
floating in the air as carbon dioxide, locked away in the shell of a sea creature and then
buried at the ocean bottom, or even part of a volcanic eruption. Carbon is found in great
quantities in Earth's crust, its surface waters, the atmosphere, and the mass of green
plants. It is also found in many different chemical combinations, including carbon
dioxide (CO 2 ) and calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), as well as in a huge variety of organic
compounds such as hydrocarbons (like coal, petroleum, and natural gas).
worrds to Know
biosphere.: The sum total of all life-forms on Earth and the interaction among
those life-forms.
Green house effect; The warming of Earth's atmosphere due to water vapor,
carbon dioxide, and other gases in the atmosphere that trap heat radiated from
Earth's surface.
respiration The process in which oxygen is used to break down organic compounds into
carbon dioxide and water.
If a diagram were drawn showing the different processes that move carbon from
one form to another, its main processes would be photosynthesis, respiration,
decomposition, natural weathering of rocks, and the combustion of fossil fuels.
make their own food, they must get their carbon either directly by eating plants
or indirectly by eating animals that have eaten plants.
Respiration is the next step in the cycle, and unlike photosynthesis, it occurs in
plants, animals, and even decomposers. Although we usually think only of
breathing oxygen when we hear the word "respiration," it has a broader meaning
that involves oxygen. To a biologist, respiration is the process in which oxygen is
used to break down organic compounds into carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water (H
2 O). For an animal then, respiration is both taking in oxygen (and releasing
carbon dioxide) and oxidizing its food (or burning it with oxygen) in order to
release the energy the food contains. In both cases, carbon is returned to the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Carbon atoms that started out as components of
carbon dioxide molecules have passed through the body of living organisms and
been returned to the atmosphere, ready to be recycled again.
Decomposition is the largest source through which carbon is returned to the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Decomposers are microorganisms that live mostly
in the soil but also in water, and which feed on the rotting remains of plants and
animals. It is their job to consume both waste products and dead matter, during
which they also return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by respiration.
Decomposers not only play a key role in the carbon cycle, but also break down,
remove, and recycle what might be called nature's garbage.
Weathering of rocks; Not all carbon atoms are always moving somewhere in the
carbon cycle. Often, many become trapped in limerock, a type of stone formed on
the ocean floor by the shells of marine plankton. Sometimes after millions of
years, the waters recede and the limerock is eventually exposed to the elements.
When limerock is exposed to the natural process of weathering, it slowly releases
the carbon atoms it contains, and they become an active part of the carbon cycle
once again
Luckily, more than half of the carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels is
absorbed by the oceans, by plants, and by soils. Regardless, scientists feel fossil fuel
consumption could be an example of a human activity that affects and possibly alters the
natural processes (photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition) that nature had previously
kept in balance. Many scientists believe that carbon dioxide is a "greenhouse gas." This
means that it traps heat and prevents it from escaping from Earth. As a result, this trapped
gas leads to a global temperature rise, a natural phenomenon known as the greenhouse
effect, which can have disastrous effects on Earth's environment.
Read more: Carbon Cycle - humans, body, used, water, process, Earth, life, plants,
type, chemical, form, energy, gas, animals, oxygen, air, effects, basic, surface
http://www.scienceclarified.com/Ca-Ch/Carbon-Cycle.html#ixzz1HPNRgRpF
We believe that it's vital to understand how the carbon cycle works
in order to see the danger of it not working. Therefore, let's look at
a sample carbon cycle and explore how carbon atoms move through
our natural world. Plants, animals, and soil interact to make up the
basic cycles of nature. In the carbon cycle, plants absorb carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and use it, combined with water they
get from the soil, to make the substances they need for growth.
The process of photosynthesis incorporates the carbon atoms from
carbon dioxide into sugars. Animals, such as the rabbit pictured
here, eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues.
Other animals, such as the fox, eat the rabbit and then use the
carbon for their own needs. These animals return carbon dioxide
into the air when they breathe, and when they die, since the carbon
is returned to the soil during decomposition. The carbon atoms in
soil may then be used in a new plant or small microorganisms.
Ultimately, the same carbon atom can move through many organisms
and even end in the same place where it began. Herein lies the
fascination of the carbon cycle; the same atoms can be recycled for
millennia!
We have all heard in the news that to tackle climate change, greenhouse-gas emissions
must be reduced on a global scale. Fossil fuel emissions still remain the largest
contributor to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, therefore reducing their contribution
to global energy is key1. However, as this is a process that can not be done overnight, an
additional strategy to withdraw CO2 from the atmosphere is also required. One suggestion
has been to plant trees around the world. However if afforestation is done in the wrong
areas (e.g. away from the tropics, in tundra areas) then it does more harm than good. As
one of the screeners for the Soils section of CAB Abstracts, I have seen a dramatic
increase in the discussion of the potential of biochar (agrichar) to alleviate this problem.
The precise duration of biochar’s carbon storage is under debate, with ranges from
hundreds of years to millennia. Whatever the length it can be considered a useful long-
term CO2 sink. However, biochar is not limited in the same way as biomass sequestration
through afforestation, grassland conversion or no-tillage agriculture. No-tillage, for
example, has been reported to cease carbon capture after 15-20 years, while forests
eventually mature over decades of centuries and start to release as much CO2 as they
initially sequestered.
Trials of biochar are being undertaken at the Wollongbar Agricultural Institute in New
South Wales, Australia. Already off the initial findings, biochar is being hailed as a
saviour of the Australian soils and environment. In addition to locking away carbon in the
soil it has decreased the emission of soil nitrous oxide and increased crop growth at a rate
of up to 10 tonnes per hectare, while decreasing the need for fertilisers and manure
applications.
All these details are great, but the most important question is can biochar sequestration
and the associated bioenergy production make a difference to national and global carbon
budgets?
Within Lehmann’s Nature commentary2 he calculates 3 approaches for the use of biochar
within USA, that each could sequester about 10% of the amount of the US fossil-fuel
emissions (1.6 billion tonnes of carbon
Carbon emissions into the atmosphere are generated by natural and human
activities. Natural reactions are part of a large, complex cycle of carbon generation
and absorption referred to as the carbon cycle. Carbon is absorbed through three
major carbon stores, or “sinks” in nature.
• The oceans
• The atmosphere
• The terrestrial system
The terrestrial system includes geological forms such as fossil fuel stores, which take
hundreds of years to form, but also soils, plants and forests, which can store CO 2 on a
much quicker scale.
Carbon cycle
(source EUROPA,
European Union)
The consumption
of fossil fuels and
land use change
are increasing the
balance of
carbon. in the
atmosphere.
This is causing
global warming.
We need to
reverse this by
reducing our
emissions into the
atmosphere. This
can be done by
planting trees which sink the CO2 back into the terrestrial system.
Carbon projects which CO2logic promotes such as those involving biomass or wind
turbines reduce emissions at the source e.g. biomass and wind enery reduce the use
of fossil fuels. CO2logic can claim to be the instigator of these reductions as they
would not take place without our intervention. All projects which would take place
without our intervention will not be invested in i.e. must be additional.
•
• What is Climate Change?
• What is Carbon Dioxide (C02)?
• What is the Carbon Cycle?
• What is Wood?
The carbon cycle is the process through which carbon is cycled through the air,
ground, oceans, plants and animals. Included in the cycle are various sinks (or stores)
of carbon and processes by which the carbon is exchanged from one sink to another. In
scientific terms, every molecule of carbon that is here now was present millions of
years ago-a basic law of nature meaning that matter can be changed, but not created
or destroyed.
Carbon remains in the tree, even when it's made into
furniture or lumber.
Carbon is an element and a basic building block of life. At the simplest level, plants
absorb carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis. The carbon molecules are
used to make sugars and starches, which in turn feed the growth of cell walls. Plants
release the oxygen part of the CO2 molecule back into the air, and that is what we
breathe. Carbon remains in the plant or tree, even when it's made into furniture or
lumber, and is released only when the wood rots or is burned.
A typical 2,500 square foot wood-frame home has 30 metric tonnes of carbon stored in
its structure, the equivalent of driving an average passenger car for five years, or
using about 12,200 litres of gasoline.
The other major exchange of CO2 occurs between the oceans and the atmosphere. As
in a forest, the process of photosynthesis is also used by marine plants (including
microscopic phytoplankton), which absorb dissolved CO2 in the oceans, use the carbon
for growth and release the oxygen into the water, which the fish then "breathe."
The carbon cycle is obviously very complex, and each process has an impact on the
others. However, it is clear that two important exchange points for carbon have been
heavily impacted by humans. First, carbon stored as coal, oil and natural gas is being
burned by industry and automobiles and released into the atmosphere in large
amounts. Close to eight billion tonnes of carbon are emitted through human-related
processes every year, most via fossil fuel combustion.
Second, land plants that absorb CO2 have been reduced as forests continue to be
cleared for agriculture-mainly in the developing world. As a result, less CO2 is being
absorbed. Approximately 20 per cent of the increase in CO2 levels is attributed to the
loss of forest cover or deforestation in developing regions.
A. 10%
B. 20%
C. 40%
D. 60%
What are the probable effects of our interference?
By the year 2000, there could be no rain forests left at the current rate of destruction!
By doing this, we have been robbing nature of its ONLY way to absorb carbon dioxide.
This leaves us all to the danger of global warming. Also, without a large supply of
plants, the earth's atmosphere will eventually run out of oxygen and the air our bodies
depend upon to make energy in respiration will no longer help us. We will just run out of
energy to perform life's vital tasks!
Carbon in Photosynthesis: