Enquiry question 1: How does the carbon cycle operate to maintain planetary health?

what is carbon

a chemical element which acts as the building block of life.

what type of cycle is carbon part of

a biochemical cycle

how are flows measured

pentagrams

what is a pentagram

1 trillion kilograms

is the carbon cycle open or closed

closed

what are carbon stores

 referred to as :pools, stocks, reservoirs. These can be terrestrial, oceanic or atmospheric.

what are fluxes

 movement and transfer of carbon between stores, which in turn creates cycles and feedback.

what are the shortest carbon fluxes

• plants take carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and release it back into the atmosphere via respiration

what is a long carbon flux

•  dead plant material can be incorporated into soils, these soils can be broken down by soil microbes (decomposition) and are released back into the atmosphere.

what is the longest carbon flux

• organic matter buried in deep sediment (protected from decay) was slowly transformed into deposits of coal.

• When we burn this coal carbon which is stored for millions of years is released back into the atmosphere.

what are the 2 types of carbon cycle

short and fast

what is the specific name for the fast carbon cycle

the biogeochemical cycle

4 stages in the fast carbon cycle

photosynthesis

respiration

decomposition

combustion

three types of carbon

organic, inorganic, gaseous

what is organic carbon

found in plant material

what is inorganic carbon

found in rocks as bicarbonate

how do forests act as sinks

• Forests are where plants take in CO2 as a raw material for photosynthesis and also where plants stores carbon in their: roots, leaves and wood

which forests are best as sinks

• tropical rainforest and boreal forests are the best for carbon storage 

what is a sink

• absorbs more carbon than it releases

how do forests act as sources

• Forests also release carbon dioxide back through: respiration and decomposition (after the tree has died)

• When trees are deforested they release carbon 

what is the human impact on forests as stores

• deforestation

• climate change

what is the impact of deforestation on the forests ability to act as a sink

• removes the trees that absorb carbon dioxide

• reduces the capacity or long term carbon storage 

what is the impact of climate change on the forests ability to act as a sink

• rising co2 can increase photosynthesis (carbon fertilisation effect)

• however benefits are limited by the water stress and increased pests that also come with climate change 

how can the forest be managed

1. afforestation

2. reforestation

3. agroforestry

what is afforestation

planting new forests

what is reforestation

replanting cleared areas

what is agroforestry

combining trees with farming

what was The Paris Agreement

• an international agreement to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial level.

what was the outcome from COP 28

• 2023

• the decision to start moving away from fossil fuels in energy systems