Water and Carbon - Carbon

Carbon Store

A store of carbon in any form. The chemical backbone of life on earth.

Spheres of Carbon

Lithosphere, Biosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryosphere

5 uses of carbon

Photosynthesis, Respiration, Fuels, Rock, Greenhouse effect

Global cycle is:

Closed

Local Cycle is:

Open

Fast Carbon Cycle examples

Photosynthesis, respiration, combustion

slow carbon cycle examples

Fuel creation, Sequestration of carbon into rock

Carbon Source

A place or environment where more carbon is given out than is taken in

Carbon Sink

A place or environment where more carbon is taken in than given out

Carbon Budget

Total amount of carbon that can be emitted whilst still limiting global warming to internationally agreed temperature goals

Positive feedback example

Sea cools, absorbs more Co2, less co2 in atmosphere, less greenhouse effect, sea cools

negative feedback example

Increase in Co2, more plants grow due to respiration, more plants do more photosynthesis and take in more co2, leads to decrease in co2

Scales of influence in the Carbon Cycle

Global, large, Local

Global Scale

All affected worldwide

Large Scale

Huge areas such as regions or biomes

Local Scale

Within a plant, community or sere

Ocean Currents

Leads to vertical deep mixing

Vertical deep mixing

cold, dense water in high latitudes sinks, transporting carbon dioxide from the ocean surface to the depths, this water is transported under the sea to warmer areas where it warms and releases the co2 back into the atmosphere. Convection currents that carry co2.

Cool water vs warm water, co2 uptake

Cool water absorbs more co2, warm water does not, an then releases more co2

Example of a sink

Amazon Rainforest, the pantanal

Example of a source

Permafrost

Where is Carbon stored?

Lithosphere = 99.9%, Coal and Oil = 0.004%, Hydrosphere = 0.04%, Cryosphere = 0.01%, Biosphere = 0.04%, Atmosphere = 0.001%

Lithosphere store notes

Stored as sedimentary rock, and hydrocarbons. Can be removed via combustion and volcanoes to atmosphere

Hydrosphere stores

Dissolved in bodies of water, typically is dissolved inorganic carbon, Loop of absorb / emit at the surfaces.

Cryosphere stores

Stored in bubbles in the ice. Typically in permafrost. Permanent store, until the ice melts and release into the atmosphere.

Biosphere

All organic matter is made of carbon. Living tissues of organisms. transferred to lithosphere and atmosphere when organisms die and rot

Atmopshere

Stored in the atmosphere as Co2 and methane. Contributes to the greenhouse effect in these forms.

Importance of forests

Super, acts as both huge stores and sinks.

Human impact on the carbon cycle

Deforestation leads to excess carbon in the atmosphere. Disrupts the natural balance of the carbon cycle

Fast flows

Respiration, photosynthesis, combustion, digestion, Volcanic activity,

Slow flows

Volcanic formation, sequestration, Weathering, Fossil Fuel formation

Carbon Sequestration

The process of carbon being captured and then held within sedimentary rock. Sediment to silt to rock due to pressure of the water at the sea floor.

Weathering

The breakdown of a rock 'in situ', which in turn transfers carbon into the oceans. Also leads to ocean acidity.

Role of carbon in the oceans

Used by organisms to create shells

Ocean acidification consequences

Huge loss of coral and shellfish

Due to increased correctional effect of water

And lack of carbonate ions to form shells

Decomposition

Physical, Chemical and Biological Mechanisms.Break down dead organic matter. Fragmentation and further breakdown. Carried out by decomposers whos specific role is to decompose. Releases carbon and nutrients back to the soil.

Photosynthesis

Carbon turned into organic matter. Absorbed and stored by the plant. Requires energy from the sun to do so. Releases oxygen as a byproduct.

respiration

Use of stored energy to sustain life. Releases Co2 to the atmosphere. Opposite of Photosynthesis.

Ocean uptake and loss

Co2 dissolves in and out of the ocean at the surface. More absorbed by cold water, less by warm water. Constant movement / pump of water due to the tropics

Combustion

organic matter or fossil fuels are burnt. Creates pollutant molecules including co2. Transfer co2 to atmosphere at fast rate. Leads to the 'enhanced' greenhouse effect as too much co2 in atmosphere.

Natural impact of Carbon Cycle

Milankovitch cycles, wildfires, volcanoes

Human impact on the carbon cycle

Deforestation, burning of fuels, Land use changes, Farming practices

Wildfires

Rapidly transfer co2 to atmosphere, 95% are caused by humans. Little impact in the past, more now as more happening due to humans

Volcanoes

Humans have no effect, extreme importance n the past, release 300X less than humans today, can cause cooling effect if sun is blocked by ash

Milankovitch cycles

Dictated a lot in the past when humans had no impact, make earth hotter / colder, oceans absorb more / less

Fuel combustion

Lithosphere to atmosphere. Excess co2 is released, removal of long term carbon stores, no historical impact as a new concept

Farming practices

Machinery leads to excess co2 release, in the past practices were more sustainable

Deforestation

Trees removed for burning or felling. Removal of a store and released co2 in the process, Cleared for commercial or housing. Rate has increased since the past

Land use change

Responsible for 10% of co2 emissions, direct links to CC, Urbanisation through the Industrial Revolution

Mt Pinatubo 1991

VEI = 8, reduced the global temperature by 1 degree for a year

Climate change and humans

95% of climate change is caused by humans, 90% of that is by greenhouse gas release

Milankovitch cycles maintain?

The natural dynamic equilibrium

Global warming limit / tipping point?

2 degrees of warming, after that it cannot be recovered

Carbon Budget

the volume of emissions allowable to stay below 2 degree C temperature rises.

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Radiative forcing

The changing amount of solar insolation being increasing absorbed rather than emitted

Spearmans rank

A statistical test to establish whether two ranked sets of data are related

Spearman's rank

Don't really need to know, will be given a table and have to do basic maths in the test

Spearman's rank

Yes table vs amount of point to prove if there is correlation, and in what percentile

Null hypothesis

a statement or idea that can be falsified, or proved wrong. In order to get a result

Impact of the carbon cycle: Land

Carbon fertilisation, Increase in biomass, Decompostion, humans have the biggest effect on the land.

Carbon fertilisation

Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere which increase photosynthesis and stimulate plant growth

Impact of carbon cycle on the ocean

Dissolve in and out of ocean, weathering leads to C in the ocean, Plankton absorb this Co2, Carbon pump carbon from poles to tropics, sequestered into rock.

Carbon pump

A part of the oceanic carbon cycle that moves carbon from the poles to the tropics

Impact of carbon cycle on atmosphere

Usually in form of Co2 or methane, Co2 in atmosphere form carbonic acid leads to acid rain, humans fossil fuel combustion leads to excess co2 release

Methane vs CO2 as a greenhouse gas

Methane is 20X more potent

What are flows of carbon measured in

Pentagrams (Pg) or Gigatonnes (Gt)

Lithosphere storage of C

99% of C

Up to 100 million Gtc

USGS state

‘Carbon dioxide released by recent volcanic eruptions has never caused detectable global warming of the atmosphere

Evidence for that?

All Present day volcanoes release less than 1% of co2 in the atmosphere

Cooling effects of reflective sulfur dioxide

Important in past, but less so now

Cement accounts for

5% of anthropogenic Co2 emissions

How much co2 for 1000kg concrete

900 kg co2 released!

Livestock account for?

14.5% of anthropogenic emissions

Radiative forcing

The net gain / loss of energy coming in from the sun

Radiative forcing

As increased from negligible in 1750, due to:

Greenhouse gas emmisions

Changing albedo of land

CCS - ways to store

Geo-Sequestration - in rock

In the Ocean

Geo-Sequestration

if sealed and handled correctly is very powerful and useful. Can even be used to drive oil and coal up for fossil fuel extraction

Bad: promotes usage of fossil fuels

Storage in ocean

Good as ocean absorbs and stores Co2

Bad: leads to excess ocean acidification

Land use mitigation methods - Farming

Reduced tillage - turning of soil - slows down decompose

Use of manure

Rotation of fields to store max carbon

Improved carbon crops

Forest land use CC mitigation

Protect

Reforest

Add trees to crop land - store lots of carbon