CARBON CYCLE

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CARBON CYCLE
Presented By Stefanie Spayd Janet Fang
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Carbon Cycle

• The process by which carbon is exchanged
  between earths biosphere, geosphere,
  hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
• Orton 2006 (talk given)

Benin
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Why should we care?
Human Contributions to the Natural Cycle
Shindell 1998
Emission trends show that CO2 is one of the most
important anthropogenic greenhouse gases
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Carbon Dioxide and Temperature
Vostok, Antarctica ice core as reported by Petit
et al., 1999.
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Past and Future of Carbon Dioxide
Uncertainties
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Carbon Budget
Fertilization vs. Acidification
C atmospheric CO2 concentration Sfossil fossil
fuel CO2 emissions Sterrestrial net terrestrial
CO2 flux, CO2 fertilization, land-use
change Socean net CO2 uptake by
oceans Sresidual residual fluxes, multiple causes
From Orton 2006 (talk given)
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Take Home Points

• Humans contribute to the fluxes of the carbon
  cycle
• Carbon Budget
• The terrestrial sink is being altered by fossil
  fuel consumption, cement production, and land-use
• The ocean sink is being acidified
• There are uncertainties about how the future
  amounts of carbon dioxide will effect
  temperature, mostly because the link between
  carbon and temperature is not fully understood