The Carbon Cycle

• Benefit of resilient agricultural systems


  -Healthier soils

  -Uses fewer fertilisers

  -Increases yields and farmer incomes
• Costs of resilient agricultural systems


  -High energy costs

  -Only affordable in wealthy countries
• Benefits of solar radiation management


  -Deployed quickly

  -Offset to some effects of GHG
• Costs of solar radiation management


  -Uncertainty on how effective it is

  -Expensive

  -Not yet verified

  -Work as long term solutions, but short term is needed now
• What is 2^0 energy?

  What the 1^0 source has been converted into (electricity)
• What is 1^0 energy?


  Natural energy that's not been converted into another form of energy
• What is the carbon cycle?


  Biogeochemical cycle moving carbon from one sphere to another
• What are carbon pumps?


  Processes operating withing the ocean to sequester, circulate and store carbon
• What happens in the biological pump?


  Carbon sequestered by phytoplankton during photosynthesis and passed up the food chain. Some goes to the sea floor and enters the carbonate pump
• What happens in the carbonate pump?


  Dead corals and shells that fall to the ocean floor and are compressed under pressure forming sediment such as limestone
• What happens in the physical pump?


  Up welling and down welling causes oceanic circulation. This moves water and stores carbon around oceans
• How much carbon is removed by photosynthesis and stored by plants?

  Removes 120Gt/year

  610Gt stored in plants
• All about phytoplankton


  -Single-celled microscopic plants

  -Rapid growth rate and makes up 1/2 of the planets biomass

  -Completed photosynthesis and uses 1/2 the planets oxygen
• All about CH4


  -Stays in atmosphere for 10 years

  -Makes up 7% of GHG

  -Has had a 250% increase since 1850

  -21 times more powerful than CO2
• All about CO2


  -0.04% of the Earths atmosphere

  -20% stays in the atmosphere for 800 years

  -89% of GHG

  -Has had a 30% increase since 1850
• All about halocarbons


  -Stays in atmosphere for 50-100 years

  -Makes up 1.1% of GHG

  -3000 times more powerful than CO2
• All about nitrous oxide


  -Stays in atmosphere for 100 years

  -Makes up 3% of GHG

  -250 times more powerful than CO2

  -Has had a 16% increase since 1850
• How is coal formed?


  -Formed during carboniferous period (300-360 million years ago), when landmass formed a part of the tropics

  -Successive layers of rainforest

  -Transformed under pressure of over-lying strata into coal
• How is oil and natural gas formed?


  -During mesozoic era (250-260 million years ago)

  -Remains of plants and animals

  -Heat and pressure turned them into oil and stored in porous sand stone
• What happens in ocean acidification?


  -CO2 is absorbed by oceans

  -Increased acidity of the oceans

  -So corals cannot absorb alkaline calcium carbonate and can't develop skeletons

  -Therefore the reef starts to dissolve, causing coral bleeding
• What will the Arctic climate experience due to climate change?


  -Highest global temperature increases

  -Highest global humidity increase

  -Change in evaporation and precipitation balances

  -Reduction in snow and ice cover

  -Increased permafrost thawing

  -Increase in river discharge
• What does it mean if the Arctic loses albedo?


  -As ice melts, less sunlight is reflected and more is absorbed by the darker sea water

  -This creates a positive feedback loop

  -Albedo flip = when sunlight reflected by ice is suddenly absorbed
• Physical factors which make future climate change uncertain


  -Oceans and forests function as carbon sinks and store heat energy

  -Oceans take a long time to respond to atmospheric changes so will affect the global climate for a long time

  -Forest cover increase will make it a more efficient carbon sink
• Human factors which make future climate change uncertain


  -Economic growth isn't always steady

  -Energy consumption is still growing

  -Population growing means more consumers

  -Countries may reject the use of green technology
• How does deforestation affect the biosphere?


  -Reduced evaporation

  -Less absorption of CO2, this decreases carbon stores

  -Species diversity will decrease

  -Ecosystem services will also decrease

  -Biomass will be lost
• Why is little carbon respired into the atmosphere in mangroves?


  Anaerobic soils, so bacteria and microbes can't survive, therefore slow decomposition and slow release of carbon
• How much carbon do mangrove forests sequester per year?

  1.5 metric tonnes per year
• What are soils like in the mangrove forest?


  Thick organic layers of litter, humus and peat with high levels of carbon
• What is albedo?


  Amount of light that is reflected by a particular surface
• What are ecosystem services?


  Supporting services, provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services
• What are cultural services?


  Non-material benefits that people obtain such as spiritual well-being, recreation, education and science
• What are provisioning services?


  Products obtained from ecosystems including food, fibre, fuel, genetic resources, natural medicines and pharmaceuticals
• What are supporting services?


  Keep ecosystems healthy by providing other services, water cycling, nutrient cycling, photosynthesis and soil formation
• What are regulating services?

  Benefits obtained including regulating air quality, climate, water, erosion, disease and pollution
• Why is carbon released along subduction zones?


  Intense heating metamorphosizes sedimentary rocks by baking , releasing CO2
• What type of soil is carbon released quickly from?

  Mangroves
• What type of soil is carbon released slowly from?

  Tundra soils
• What is energy equity?


  Accessible and affordable energy for all countries
• What is energy security?


  Energy supply meets current and future demands
• What is insolation?


  Amount of heat received from the sun in a given area