Carbon Cycle Flashcards
How long does it take for carbon to move through the slow carbon cycle?
Between 100 to 200 million years
What is carbon sequestration?
The process of capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it
What are the processes/ transfers of the fast carbon cycle?
What are the processes/ transfers of the slow carbon cycle?
What’s a carbon source?
A store where the release of carbon happens faster than it’s absorbed.
What’s a carbon sink?
A store where the absorption of carbon happens faster than it’s released.
What’s the fast carbon cycle?
The relatively rapid transfer of carbon compounds over years, decades, and centuries.
What’s the slow carbon cycle?
The transfer of carbon compounds over extensive timescales, often millions of years.
What are some processes that transfer carbon into the atmosphere?
Volcanic eruptions, burning decomposition, fossil fuel combustion, weathering and erosion, respiration, and oceanic diffusion.
What are some processes that take carbon in from the atmosphere?
Photosynthesis, plant uptake, and diffusion into oceans, burial amd Compaction, carbon sequestration.
What is chemical weathering?
Carbon dissolved in rainwater makes it slightly acidic, which reacts with rocks like limestone, dissolving them and releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
What are peat bogs and why is decomposition limited?
Peat bogs are wetlands with waterlogged, oxygen-poor soil. This prevents decomposition, allowing carbon to build up over hundreds of years.
Why are peat bogs important for the carbon cycle?
They act as a carbon sink, storing carbon in undecomposed plant matter. However, they’re part of a climate feedback loop we don’t fully understand.
What happens when peat bogs are drained?
Draining peat bogs for fertile farmland releases stored carbon into the atmosphere, increasing carbon emissions and contributing to climate change.
What happens when permafrost melts?
Organic matter that was frozen starts to decompose, releasing CO₂ and methane (CH₄), which are greenhouse gases.
Why does permafrost melting release more CO₂?
Oxygen is more present in the thawed soil, allowing microorganisms to decompose matter and release CO₂.
How does the melting of permafrost contribute to a positive feedback loop in climate change?
Warming melts permafrost, releasing greenhouse gases like CO₂ and methane, which cause further warming, continuing the cycle.
What is the largest carbon store on Earth?
The lithosphere (sedimentary rock) holds 100,000 billion metric tonnes of carbon, stored over millions of years.
99.9% of carbon
What does the deep ocean (hydrosphere) store?
It stores about 38,000 billion tonnes of carbon and exchanges it with the atmosphere over hundreds to thousands of years.
0.0038%
What is the terrestrial biosphere’s role in carbon storage?
It stores around 4,000 billion tonnes of carbon in plants, animals, and soils, cycling carbon more rapidly through photosynthesis and decomposition.
0.004%
What role does the upper ocean (hydrosphere) play?
It stores about 750 billion tonnes of carbon and exchanges quickly with the atmosphere, making it part of the fast carbon cycle.
How much carbon does the atmosphere store and why is it important?
It holds around 560 billion tonnes of carbon. Though small, it’s crucial for climate regulation due to rapid carbon fluxes.
What is the role of fossil fuels in carbon storage?
They store about 1,500 billion tonnes of carbon. When burned, this carbon is rapidly released, contributing to climate change.
0.004%
What are the main greenhouse gases
○ water vapour
○ carbon dioxide
○ methane
○ nitrous oxide
What are some fast flows of carbon
○ respiration
○ decomposition
○ combustion
○ photosynthesis
What are some slow flows of carbon?
○ burial and compaction
○ carbon sequestration
○ weathering
What is Burial and Compaction?
This is where organic matter is buried by sediment and becomes compacted. Over millions of years, organic sediments containing carbon form hydrocarbons like coal or oil. Coral and shelled organisms take up carbon dioxide from the water and convert it into calcium carbonate, which is used to build shells. When they die, the shells accumulate at the seabed. Some of the carbon dissolves, releasing CO2, and the rest becomes compacted to form limestone.
What is Carbon Sequestration?
This is a term used to describe the transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to plants, soils, rocks, and oceans. It can be a natural or human process. Carbon capture and storage is the technological capturing of carbon from power stations
What is chemical weathering, refering to the carbon cycle?
This involves the breaking down and decay of rocks at or close to the surface. When CO2 is absorbed by rainwater, it forms mildly acidic carbonic acid. Through chemical reactions, the rocks slowly dissolve with carbon held in solution, then transported by the water cycle. This carbon can then be used by marine organisms to build shells.
What biome has the largest amount of carbon stored?
Rainforests
How much carbon does The Amazon absorb annually, and how has deforestation affected this?
The Amazon Rainforest absorbs around 6 million metric tons of carbon annually. However, due to deforestation and rising temperatures, it now absorbs less than half the CO2 it did 20 years ago as drying conditions reduce its carbon absorption capacity.
On average, how much CO₂ is generated producing a kg of beef?
On average, about 36kg of CO₂ from producing 1kg of beef
What shows evidence of climate change in Antarctica
The Vostok ice core in Antarctica found a 420,000 year old icecore which was over 3,000 meters deep.
One layer of ice is formed each year, and you can see the composition of the atmosphere through the gases trapped, and the ice cores layers showed a cooling and warming period in a cycle between glacial and interglacial periods.
What is anthropogenic climate change?
Human caused climate change
What percentage of anthropogenic climate change is due to the combustion of fossil fuels?
90%
What percentage of human induced climate change is due to the cement industry?
1% - for ever 1000kg of cement produced, 900kg of cement is released into the atmosphere
How does land use change contribute to carbon emissions?
Deforestation: Clearing forests releases carbon stored in trees into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
Soil Disturbance: Converting land for farming or construction disturbs soil, releasing stored carbon from the pedosphere as CO2.
Land Degradation: Practices like overgrazing and deforestation degrade soil, reducing its ability to store carbon, which leads to more carbon release.
Agriculture: Agricultural activities, especially the use of fertilizers and tilling, release carbon and other greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide.
What are physical factors that cause climate change
○ Volcanoes
○ milankovich cycle
○ wildflies
○ carbon sequestration
How do volcanoes affect climate change?
- Volcanoes account for very little percentage of climate change unless than 1%
- Volcanoes admit CO₂ which is the greenhouse gas causing global warming however this is counter balanced by a large amount of sulphur dioxide that’s also given out sulphur dioxide converts into sulphuric acid which forms small droplets which reflect radiation from the sun (albedo)
- When volcanoes erupt, they emit loads of solid particulates into the atmosphere. These can block out the sunlight, causing a volcanic winter decreasing temperature slightly.
How does the milankovitch cycle affect climate change?
Changes in the earths tilt, wobble on its axis, and shape of the earth’s orbit cause slight variation to the amount of the sums radiation that warms up the earth
How do wildfires contribute to climate changes?
They can start naturally die to e.g. lightening striking a tree. The fires release large amount of CO₂ as well as removing the trees which are a carbon sink and take in CO₂ during photosynthesis.
What is ocean carbon sequestration?
CO₂ diffuses I to the oceans which are great carbon sinks as the carbon can be stored for a long time, if it reaches the sea bed and enters the geological cycle it can be stored for millions of years
What is the carbon budget?
The carbon budget refers to the balance between the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere and the amount of CO2 that is absorbed by natural processes like forests, oceans, and soil. It is essentially the maximum amount of carbon that can be released into the atmosphere while still keeping global warming within safe limits
What is terrestrial/biological sequestration?
Involves the use of plants to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere, and it’s stored in the stems roots and soil. However, the carbon can be released back into the atmosphere, e.g., through a forest fire, so storage isn’t permanent.
What are some impacts of changes in the carbon cycle on oceans?
○ ocean acidification
○ ocean warming
○ melting sea ice
○ ocean salinity
○ sea level rise
Why is it important to have CO₂ in the atmosphere?
The greenhouse effect, CO₂ and greenhouse gases, are important for controlling the earth’s temperatures.
The sun emit shortwave length radiation to the Earth which passes through the atmosphere and then there’s absorbed by the author reflected back as long wavelength radiation this is then absorbed by the greenhouse gases in re-admitted in every Direction so it’s kept in the earth atmosphere without these greenhouse gases the earth would be freezing and inhabitable for humans and life
What percent of CO₂ humans have put into the atmosphere has diffused into the oceans?
30%
Leading, due to increasing amounts of CO₂ emitted, ocean acidification as the carbon diffusing in reacts to create carbonic acid.
What happens when CO₂ diffuses into oceans?
The carbon diffusing in reacts to create carbonic acid. This reacts with carbonate ions to create bicarbonate. This reduces the carbonate ions in the oceans, which are needed by corals and animals that need to make shells, leading to significant reef loss and decrease in biodiversity.
In what way could ocean acidification would be a positive thing?
More acidic sea water dissolves calcium carbonate rocks better. Over time, more water dissolves more rocks, releasing more carbonate ions and increasing the oceans capacity to absorb more CO₂.
What are the negative impacts of ocean warming?
Warming’s oceans could reduce the abundance of phytoplankton as they grow better in cold nutrient rich Waters this could limit the oceans ability to take carbon in from the atmosphere reducing the oceans effectiveness as a carbon sink
What could be a positive impact of ocean warming?
CO₂ is needed for phyctopranco growth so increased carbon levels could increase the growth of phytoctom by fertilizing them and ocean plants that take CO₂ directly from the water
What are some ocean issues caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect?
○ rising sea levels
○ increased coastal flooding
○ increase frequency and strength of storm surges
What are likely effects of predicted sea level Rise or coastal Communities and held by their response depend on their level of development?
Increase flooding and erosion rates at the coast developed countries would put up Defence of the protect the coastline in the mitigate the erosion but LICs wouldn’t be able to afford to do this to the aerial flood and they’d have to rebuild the city
What are artificial trees?
Artificial trees are designed to remove CO2 from the atmosphere using fake leaves that are 1,000 times more efficient than natural leaves through photosynthesis.
How do artificial trees work?
Their leaves are coated in resin with sodium carbonate, which captures CO2 and stores it as bicarbonate. The CO2 is removed by rinsing the leaves in water vapour, then they dry in the wind and can absorb more CO2.
How much CO2 can artificial trees remove daily?
They can remove about one tonne of carbon from the air per day.
What are some issues with artificial trees?
They are expensive to manufacture and install, and although costs are falling, large-scale deployment remains unaffordable.
What are the advantages of artificial trees?
They are extremely effective, removing up to 1,000 times more CO2 than natural trees. As production increases, the cost is expected to decrease.
Can artificial trees have a global impact?
Yes, because CO2 mixes globally in the atmosphere, artificial trees in one country (e.g., the USA) can remove emissions produced elsewhere.
What is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)?
CCS is the process of removing CO2 directly or indirectly from the atmosphere. It captures emissions from sources like power plants before they enter the atmosphere and stores the CO2 underground in geological formations.
What does Carbon Capture and Storage involve?
CO2 is captured from industrial processes, compressed, transported via pipelines, and injected into deep underground rock formations for permanent storage.
How does CCS interfere with the carbon cycle?
CCS removes CO2 from the fast carbon cycle, slowing down human-driven climate change, lowering atmospheric CO2, and reducing ocean acidification.
What are the advantages of CCS?
It cuts CO2 from fossil fuel industries, fits existing infrastructure, helps sectors like cement production, and can make some industries carbon-negative.
What are the disadvantages of CCS?
It is expensive, energy intensive, has long-term leak risks, and might delay the shift to renewable energy.
What is the scale of CCS impact?
Global: lowers worldwide CO2 levels; National: key in countries investing heavily in CCS; Local: located near emission sources like power stations.
What is geoengineering?
Large-scale manipulation of environmental processes to slow global warming. It includes solar geoengineering and carbon geoengineering.
What is solar geoengineering and what does it involve?
Also known as solar radiation management or albedo modification. It reflects solar radiation back into space using methods like space mirrors or cloud brightening with seawater spray to increase albedo.
What is carbon geoengineering?
The removal of CO2 from the atmosphere through methods like reforestation, afforestation, carbon capture, biomass storage, and iron fertilisation (which boosts phytoplankton growth to absorb carbon).
How does solar geoengineering interfere with the carbon cycle?
It reduces sunlight, which can limit photosynthesis, decreasing the biosphere’s ability to remove CO2.
How does carbon geoengineering interfere with the carbon cycle?
Iron fertilisation increases oceanic carbon absorption (hydrosphere), but can raise ocean acidification. Afforestation increases biospheric carbon sinks by removing more CO2 from the atmosphere.
What are the pros of geoengineering?
Aims to reverse or slow climate change. Some methods can produce rapid results. Can create employment opportunities. Certain approaches (e.g., afforestation) are relatively affordable.
What are the cons of geoengineering?
Some carbon geoengineering methods are expensive. Solar geoengineering may interfere with natural systems (e.g., photosynthesis). Long-term impacts are uncertain and could be risky. May reduce the urgency to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the source.
What is BEDZED and how is it carbon neutral?
BEDZED (Beddington Zero Energy Development) is a zero carbon emission community in South London. It uses sustainable and public transport, green roofs to absorb CO2, high home insulation, and low-carbon heating systems. It’s a national strategy to reduce emissions and promote sustainable living.
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy comes from sources replenished within a human lifetime. They’re green due to low or zero greenhouse gas emissions.
What are examples of renewable energy?
Solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal, tidal energy, wave energy, biomass.
What are the pros of renewable energy?
Environmentally friendly, unlimited supply, reduces air pollution.
What are the cons of renewable energy?
High initial costs, inconsistent energy output (e.g. solar/wind), weather and location dependent, requires large areas, can impact habitats.
What is the water vapour feedback loop?
Rising CO2 warms the atmosphere → air expands and holds more water vapour → water vapour is a greenhouse gas → more warming.
This is a positive feedback loop.
What is the positive albedo feedback loop?
Rising temperatures melt high-albedo ice → exposes low-albedo dark ocean → oceans absorb more heat → further warming → more ice melts.
This is a positive feedback loop.
What is the negative albedo feedback loop?
Rising temperatures → more evaporation → more clouds form → clouds have high albedo → reflect solar radiation → temperatures decrease.
This is a negative feedback loop.
What is a land carbon cycle feedback loop we don’t fully understand?
Increased CO2 → may increase ocean and land absorption → removes CO2 from the atmosphere → potentially cooling effect.
This could be a negative feedback loop, but it’s uncertain.
What is a positive carbon feedback loop from warming?
Rising temperatures → increased decomposition → more CO2 released. Also: melting permafrost & tundra release trapped CO2 + dry soil respires more → more CO2 → more warming.
This is a positive feedback loop.
What is the cloud feedback loop (positive and negative)?
Clouds reflect sunlight (high albedo) → negative feedback (cooling). But clouds also trap outgoing heat (blanket effect) → positive feedback (warming). Higher clouds trap more heat; warmer worlds may have more high clouds → more heat retained.
