Unit 2 Section 8

The Global Carbon Cycle

http://graciegirlakagg.deviantart.com/art/ocean-land-and-sky-209543688

http://www.biochar.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=7&limit=1&limitstart=1

http://sciencewithme.com/learn-about-fossil-fuels/

90. What are (2) major variables shaping Earth's weather patterns? temperature and moisture levels

http://agrippinglife.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/new-weather-patterns-same-old-complainers/

91. Humans are changing the planet's radiative balance by increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases through activities such as burning fossil fuels. This process is changing what (2) variables?

global temperatures and moisture levels

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/global-warming-facts-myths-0409

http://geothermal.marin.org/GEOpresentation/sld112.htm

Today, coal provides 55% of the U.S. electricity supply and the U.S. imports more than half of the oil it consumes.

Slide 112 of 122, © 2000 Geothermal Education Office

http://www.energytomorrow.org/blog/2012/october/life-without-fossil-fuels-all-the-things-wed-miss

http://www.energytomorrow.org/blog/2012/november/no-oil-or-natural-gas-a-less-beautiful-world

http://www.energytomorrow.org/blog/2012/september/no-oil-no-natural-gas-a-colder-world

92.What will determine the fraction of man-made CO2 emissions that will remain in the atmosphere and alter Earth's radiative balance?

the rate at which land and ocean sinks take up carbon

http://thedailyocean.blogspot.com/2011/06/land-ho-or-sight-for-sore-eyes.html

93. What is considered the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas? CO2

http://bradleydibble.authorsxpress.com/2012/11/28/visualizing-carbon-dioxide-might-help/

94. In recent decades, only about half of the CO2 added to the atmosphere by human activities has stayed in the atmosphere. The rest has been taken up and stored where?

in the oceans and in terrestrial ecosystems

http://school.homeoclass.ru/carbon-dioxide/

95. The basic processes through which land and ocean sinks (storage reservoirs) take up carbon are well understood, but there are many questions. What (3) questions do scientists have still?

1. How much anthropogenic carbon can these sinks absorb?

2. Which sinks are taking up the largest shares?

3. How sensitive are these sinks to various changes in the environment?

http://www.celebratebig.com/hawaii-big-island/i6-hawaii-south-point-honaunau-bay-puuhonua-o-honaunau-mango-sunset-bb-lyman-farms-wawaloli-beach.htm

96. The residence time of carbon varies widely among different reservoirs. On average a carbon atom spends about 5 years in the atmosphere, 10 years in terrestrial vegetation, and 380 years in intermediate and deep ocean waters. Carbon can remain locked up in ocean sediments or fossil fuel deposits for millions of years.

http:

//w

ww

.inte

racti

veoc

eans

.was

hing

ton.

edu/

stor

y/Ca

rbon

+Cyc

le

97. Oceans and land ecosystems thus serve as both sources and sinks for carbon.

Gigatons of Carbon and the Carbon Cycle. Source: IPCC 2004

98. It would take about 500 years for all ocean water to come into contact with the atmosphere.

http://wallpaperswa.com/thumbnails/detail/20120630/water%20ocean%20sea%20blue%20sky%201920x1200%20wallpaper_wallpaperswa.com_6.jpg

99. Forests take up CO2 through what features?

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=48634&actid=30Nantahala National Forest

photosynthesis, stored carbon in plant tissue, forest litter, and soils

100.What reasons do scientists give for forests taking up a rising share of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion in the 1980s and 1990s?

Scientists believe that this occurred mainly because forests in the Northeastern United States and similar areas in Europe, many of which were clear-cut or used for agriculture in the 1700s and 1800s, have been growing back with the decline of agriculture in the region.