carbon (1)

How does carbon get sequestered into the biosphere and pedosphere

• photosynthesis absorbs carbon dioxide and react with water to form glucose and oxygen

• The carbon is stored in the plants, which gets eaten by primary’s consumers, however some of the plant is not eaten and this is dead organic plan matter, the primary consumer is eaten by a secondary consumer, passing on some of its carbon

• A detrivore is an animal whihc feeds on dead/ inorganic matter e.g wood lice, earthworms and crabs

How does decomposition work

Decomposers (microorganisms) break down dead organic matter by taking in the glucose for respiration

What affects the rate of decomposition

• the type of soil and what is being decomposed

• Decomposition in the arctic tundra where conditions are very dry and there is little oxygen in the soil, will take a lot longer than in tropical rainforest where its warm and wet all year round

• A large protein heavy mammal will take longer to decompose than small soft leaves or flowers

Explain the geological process that influence carbon levels in the atmosphere

Chemical weathering is a geological process which transfers carbon form the atmosphere into the biosphere and hydrosphere. This is where atmospheric carbon reacts wit water vapour forming weak carbonic acid, when this condenses it form acid rain, this reacts with silicate ions in roaches, forming calcium ions and these ions get washed into rivers, lakes and the ocean, when calcium ions react with carbon they form calcium carbonate.

Another geological process is called outgassing, this where carbon is stored in magma in the earths crust, this is then released during volcanic eruptions. Carbon fro the earths crust can also be released by metamorphism, where sedimentary rocks change into metamorphic ones under high temperatures and pressures at covenant ridges and plate boundaries. These process both release carbon back into the atmosphere.

Why is a balanced carbon cycel important for humans

• so that earths temperature is stable

• To keep our biomes stable

• Fro governments to invest

• More flooding and storm events can stop countries form developing

Solar insulation

. the total amount of solar energy received on a given surface area in a given time

What factors can affect the level of solar insulation

• at the poles the snow reflects heat this is called albedo affect

• The dark forests at the equator absorb heat

• The depth of the atmosphere the insulation has to pass through to reach the earths surface also increases because the angle of it reaches the earth, so there is more scatter absorption

• The surface area covered by the same amount of insulation decreases with latidtude Becuase the curve of the earths surface

What is solar insolation

Where the sun hits the earth at 90 degrees so gets the strongest sunlight

What processes keep the carbon balance in the atmosphere and how much doe sit store

• phytoplankton in the oceans sequester CO2, through the process of photosynthesis - pumping it out of the atmosphere and inot ocean store ( known as the biological carbon pump)

• Transfers 5-25 Gt of carbon form atmosphere each year

What is terrestrial photosynthesis

• plants sequester 100 - 120 Gt of CO2 a year, this is then released back inot the atmosphere though respiration ad decomposition

How are mangrove forests important i n the carbon cycle

• Mangrove forests are found along tropical and sub-tropical tidal coasts in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Americas.

• They are vital processors, sequestering almost 1.5 metric tonnes of carbon per hectare every year.

• Mangrove soils consist of thick organic layers of litter, humus and peat, which contain high levels of carbon - over 10%.

• Undisturbed mangroves grow quickly and absorb large amounts of carbon. Submerged below high tides twice a

• day, their soils are anaerobic - that is, without oxygen.

• Bacteria and microbes cannot survive without oxygen, so the decomposition of plant matter is slow.

• little of the carbon can be respired back to the atmosphere, and the store remains intact. Any plant matter trapped by tree roots tends to stay as it decomposes slowly, and may remain stored for thousands of years.

• if mangroves are drained or cleared, carbon is released back to the atmosphere. Throughout the tropical world, mangroves are being cleared for tourism, shrimp farms and aquaculture

• if just 2% of the world's mangroves are lost, the amount of carbon released wil be 50 times the natural sequestration rate.

Why does tundra contain carbo that has been trapped for hundreds of years

• Much of the soil in the tundra region is permanently frozen and contains ancient carbon. Microbe activity is only active in the surface layer of the soil when it thaws.

• The rest of the time the roots and dead and decayed organic matter are frozen, locking any carbon into an icy store.

• Tundra soils contain carbon that has been trapped for hundreds of thousands of years.

What are the anthropogenic interference of carbon cycle

• land use change: accounts for a tenth of carbon release annually, impacting short term stores

• Farming practices - around 70% of deforestation is cattle ranching, cattle produce significant amounts of methane

• Fertilisers - rice padi fields, more sustainable grains like quinoa are being grown as substitutes whihc require less water

• Deforestation - deforestation accounts for 20% of all global greenhouse emissions, as it reduces the carbon sequestration adn land becomes a carbon source not a sink

• Urbanisation: theis is the process of replacing the country side with buildings and other similar infrastructure. It affects the local and and global carbon stores, by replacing vegetation nd covering soils. Urban eras occupy 2% of the worlds land mass and account for 97% of all human caused CO2 emissions. Cement contributes to 7% of the global CO2 emissions each year

• Combustion of fossil fuels - NO2, CO2 and sulfur particles released into atmosphere

What is a=the positive feedback of carbon cycle

• increased warming of tundra surface and ocean waters leads to melting permafrost

• Methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) released

• Increased greenhouse warming

The negative feedback carbon cycle

• slight increase in temperature

• Nutrients form decomposition encourages growth of trees and shrubs

• Trees and shrubs photosynthesise and store carbon

• Less carbon in the atmosphere means greenhouse effect is reduced

What is the artic carbon cycle

• shrubs and trees invade the artic landscape so more phototsynthesis

• De o position of plant material in wet soils reduced the carbon stored by releasing more CO2 and CH4 inot the atmosphere - positive feedback making artic source

What factories anable energy security

• accessible and available energy

• Affordable and competitively priced energy supply

• Energy mix dependent on domestic rather then imported sources of energy

• Reliable and uninterrupted energy supply

What are primary and secondary sources of energy

• Primary - consumed in their raw for (fossil fuels, nuclear enrgy, renewable sources

• Secondary - primary sources are used to generate electricity, it flows through power lines

What is the uks energy mix

The largest enrgy source is wind - 29.4%, then gas 25.9%, coal has decreased from the 1990s to nearly zero in 2024,

What factors effect energy consumption

• climate - high levels of consumption in North America, Midel east and Australia, reflect extra energy required to make extremes of hot and cold more comfortable

• Econcomic development (e.g lower levels in Africa)

• Environemtal priorities

• Energy players - meeting the demadn for energy involves energy pathways from governments producer to consumer

What is the Uks energy mix

• in the uk North Sea oil reserves have traditionally made up a large part

• Due to finite reserves and people concerned with environmental impact the uk has become depends on importing energy sources from other countries

Give an expanse of an energy transfer

ESPO pipeline - a flow of energy between producer and consumer

What do energy transfers depend on

• bilateral and multilateral agreements

What foactors affect energy pathways

• Natural Hazards - UK storm in 2013 broke important pipeline, uk gas supplies just 6 hours worth

• Exhaustion of supply

• Possible portrays

• Increase in price

• Terrorism

• A country reaching peak production

• Increased demands form developing nations

• Choke points - narrow areas of the shipping lane e.g the straight of Hormuz only 31 miles wide ans one of the worlds most important shipping route

Case study - conflict between Ukrain and Russia over gas: how has the war impacted energy security for Europe

Russian enrgy TNC Gazrpom said that enrgy supplies had ben stopped after Ukraines state owned oil and gas company Naftogaz refused to renew its latest five year transit deal.

Price Spikes & Hardship: Gas and oil prices surged, leading to unaffordable utility bills, impacting households, businesses (like BASF), and fueling inflation.

Supply Cuts: Russia drastically reduced gas flows, creating fears of shortages, especially for winter.

EU Emergency Response: The EU banned Russian coal and seaborne oil, imposed price caps, and agreed on joint gas purchasing, storage, and demand reduction targets.

Diversification: Europe shifted from Russian pipeline gas to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from other suppliers and increased imports via other pipelines.

What is the future like for Europe in terms of energy supply

Europe has been trying to reduce its reliance on Russian Gas:

Brought Liquefied natural gas from Quatar and USalongside piped gas from Norway

What groups oppose tar sands

Over 150 First Nations and tribes have signed a treaty across North America to collectively oppose tar sands

• green peace campaigns globally against tar sands, highlighting their high carbon emissions ans the risks of pipeline spills

• Rainforest Action Network: Also works to target the financiers of tar sands pipelines through campaigns like Mazaska Talks

• NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): Has worked to block numerous tar sands pipeline projects through legal and advocacy efforts, producing analyses on the unique risks of tar sands oil.

What are tar sands

Sand, clay, water and Bitumen. Crude oil can be extracted form These naturally occurring mixtures (Canada has 73% of known gloabl stocks)

What are the negatives of tar sands

• most operations clear land so that actual deposition could be accessed, meaning trees had to be cleared form the area

• Extracting bitumen form tar sand is carbon intensive - the emissions are 15% higher than the standard crude oil processing procedures

• Non renewable source - only last for about 2 generations

• The waste products are highly toxic and is pumped into waste ponds

• leaks form tar sands operations could harm people and animals in the region - in 2008 a large flock of ducks land in talking pond, over 1600 of them drowned

• For Alberta tar sands project it takes up to 4.5 gallons of freshwater to be able to produce 1 barrel of oil

• Increased deforestation and reduced resilience of the Taigi environment in Canada

• Caribou populations have declined sharply as they become ears prey for wolves

What groups / players oppose tar sands

• over 150 of the nations tribes have signed a treaty across North America to collectively oppose tar sands

• Green peace campaigns globally against tar sands, highlighting the rise high carbon emissions and risk of pipeline spills

• Rainforest Action network - works to target the t=fnancers of tar sands pipelines theotug campaigns

• NRDC ( Natural Resources Defense Council) has worked to block numerous tar sands pipelines projects

What is fracking

• methane in coal seam or natural gas trapped in fractures of sand stones and shapes are extracted by fracking. Uses about 8 million tonnes of water and 10,000 tonnes of sand and chemicals.

• Once the gas and oil is extracted the fracking fluid whihc contains toxic chemicals is put back underground and a whole is sealed, this contaminates the ground water supppies due to carcinogenic chemicals

What are the pros of fracking

• in 2010 600,000 workers were employed across USA and by 2015 shale has likely to contribute $118 billion to the US economy.

• Low cost natural gas is causing Pennsylvania and Ohio to boom

• Alaska taxes the oil and gas companies between 25% and 50% so residents get a payback form hydrocarbon profits

• Shale gas produces 50% less emissions than greenhouse gasses

Negative of fracking

• is polluting drinking water by chemicals in the pumping fluid

• surface subsidence

• Produces air bourne pollutants such as methane and supphur dioxide

• Fraccidents - mystery animal deaths and explosions

Where are the man deep water oil reserves

• north sea

• Mexico and Brazils offshore reserves

Pros of deep water oil

• by 2020 Brazil was producing 500,000 barrels of oil per day

Cons of deep water oil

• the oil and a

• Has reserves contain a huge amount of toxic flammable and explosive gasses

• Explosion on the deep water Horiszon rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010

• Rigs are out of helicopter reach and hazardous for ships through prevailing winds

What happened on the Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico

• 780 million litres of oil leak into the ocean, this caused huge economic impacts

• Killed much marine life

Biofuels in Brazil

• approx 90% of new passenger vehicles sold in Brazil contain flex fuel engines that wor using petrol and sugar cane ethanol

• This led to a significant reduction of the countries CO2 emmisions

• Brazil is now the worlds largest producer of sugar cane

• Since 20003 the area planted with sugar cane has increased and is set to double by 2018

What are the negative effects of sugar cane biofuels in Brazil

• displacement of other types of agriculture, particularly cattle pasture

• The need to find replacement pastures has led to large-scale clearance of tropical rainforest in the Amazon Basin.

• This deforestation nullifies the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions gained from the increasing use of ethanol. 

How has the Uk energy consumption changed over time

• today we consume less enrgy than we did in 1970, despite of population increase of about 6.5 million

• Uk is now more efficient; Households now use 12% less energy while industry uses 60% less

• However number of vehicle on roads and the number of flights will increase

• The old primary enrgy consumption has hugely decrease in coal/ manufactured feuls form 50,000 tonnes to nearly 0 in the future

• The amount of natural gas has increased significantly

• Nucelar enrgy has increased slightly

• oil has decreased form 1970 - 2012 by 10,000s of tonnes

Wind power key facts

• 1% of the worlds energy is wind power

• Wind turbines should be built in flat open areas

• Large scale wind farms are immune to the national grid

• Nucelar accounts for 10% of the worlds supply of electricity

Key facts about nuclear energy

• steam is created when plutonium atoms are split ( nuclear fission)

• The first commercial reactor opened in 1956

• There are 53 nuclear reactors in 31 countries around the world

• In 1016: Nucelar accounts for 10% of the worlds energy

Impacts of deforestation case study example

• Madagascar landscapes and soil health have been salt affected. Deforestation in Madagascar’s central highlands has a great impact in rivers by the time they reach the coast they’re clogged with sediment

What are the economic and social benefits of tar sands

• local econcomic benefit

Definition of the carbon cycle

The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon moves form one sphere to another. A closed system

Definition of positive feedback

Amplifying the change

Negative feedback

Counter the change (stabilising a system) to maintain equilibrium

1 pictogram/ gigatonne is equal to

1 billion tonnes

Sequestering

The capture and storage of carbon by processes such as photosynthesis

What are the three carbon pumps

The processes operating in oceans: biological, physical and carbonate

Thermohaline circulation

The global system ocean currents are driven by temperature (thermo) and salinity differences between oceans

Carbon flux

The amount of carbon exchanged between the different carbon stores/Carbon pools. Typically measured in Gt per year

Calcifying marine life

Sea creatures that form shells and structures form calcium carbonate

Energy security

The uninterrupted availability of energy sources at affordable prices

Energy mix

The different available energy sources used in a country

Energy pathway

The route taken by any form of energy form its source to its point of consumption e.g pipelines, electricity, pylons

Biomass

Organic matter used as feul