Carbon Chemistry and the Carbon Cycle

Vocabulary flashcards covering the carbon cycle, greenhouse effect and climate targets, allotropes of pure carbon, and organic versus inorganic carbon compounds.

Carbon cycle (Karbonkretsløpet)

The continuous biogeochemical process in which carbon compounds cycle between Earth's four major reservoirs: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.

Lithosphere (Litosfæren)

Earth's crust and bedrock reservoir containing rocks, sediments, and fossil fuels, storing between $66\,000$ and $100\,000\,000$ gigatonnes of carbon.

Hydrosphere (Hydrosfæren)

Earth's water reservoir storing roughly $38\,000$ gigatonnes of carbon, primarily as dissolved carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), carbonic acid ($H_2CO_3$), and carbonates.

Greenhouse effect (Drivhuseffekten)

A process where atmospheric gases allow incoming solar radiation to reach Earth but absorb outgoing heat radiation emitted from Earth's surface, keeping the planet warm.

Greenhouse gases (Drivhusgasser)

Gases in the atmosphere that retain heat, identified primarily as water vapor ($H_2O$), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane ($CH_4$), nitrous oxide ($N_2O$), and ozone ($O_3$).

Carbon budget (Karbonbudsjett)

A calculation indicating the cumulative amount of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) released historically and the remaining allowable future emissions to restrict global temperature increase below $1{,}5\,^{\circ}\text{C}$.

Paris Agreement (Parisavtalen)

An international climate agreement adopted in $2015$ with the goal of limiting global warming by the year $2100$ to well below $2\,^{\circ}\text{C}$, and preferably under $1{,}5\,^{\circ}\text{C}$, compared to pre-industrial levels (~$1850$).

IPCC 2030 emission target

The benchmark set by the UN Climate Panel requiring global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by half relative to $2010$ levels by the year $2030$.

Net-zero emissions (Netto null utslipp)

The condition targeted for $2050$ where human activities balance emissions so that at least as much $CO_2$ is actively removed from the atmosphere as is emitted.

Carbon capture (Karbonfangst)

Techniques and procedures implemented to extract and remove carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) directly from the atmosphere.

Limewater test (Kalkvannstest)

A chemical identification test for carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), which causes clear limewater to turn milky upon contact.

Diamond (Diamant)

The hardest known natural allotrope of pure carbon, structured as a rigid crystal lattice where each carbon atom forms strong covalent bonds with $4$ other carbon atoms.

Graphite (Grafitt)

A soft, electrically conductive allotrope of pure carbon consisting of planar layers held by strong internal covalent bonds but separated by weak bonds between sheets.

Buckminsterfullerene (Buckminsterfulleren)

An allotrope of pure carbon where carbon atoms bond covalently into large spherical, soccer-ball-shaped molecules that interact through weak intermolecular bonds.

Lesedi La Rona

A natural rough diamond weighing $1109\,\text{carats}$, recognized as the second-largest diamond ever discovered.

Organic carbon compounds (Organiske forbindelser)

Carbon-containing substances accounting for more than $95\%$ of all known chemical compounds, excluding elemental carbon, carbon oxides, and carbonic acid and its salts.

Inorganic carbon compounds (Uorganiske karbonforbindelser)

Non-organic carbon-bearing substances consisting of elemental carbon allotropes, carbon monoxide ($CO$), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), and carbonic acid ($H_2CO_3$) and its salts.

Carbon valence electrons

The $4$ outer-shell electrons of a carbon atom that allow it to form $4$ covalent bonds with other elements or carbon atoms in single, double, or triple configurations to reach $8$ outer electrons.