Carbon Stores and Flows

Question 1

what % since 1750 of carbon emission come from fossil fuels?

Answer 1

66%

Question 2

how much carbon is stored in the atmosphere?

Answer 2

2/3rds

Question 3

what is the effect on combustion on atmospheric CO2?

Answer 3

increased amount of CO2 in atmosphere

increased atmospheric temperatures due to the greenhouse effect

Question 4

what is carbon capture and storage?

Answer 4

carbon moved from the atmosphere (or stopped from going into the atmosphere) by storing it underground

Question 5

what are the pros of carbon capture and storage?

Answer 5

removes C from the atmosphere (reduced by 90%)

Question 6

what are the cons of carbon capture and storage?

Answer 6

expensive

doesn’t discourage the use of fossil fuels

Question 7

what are the short term effects of combustion on the ocean?

Answer 7

increased amount of CO2 diffused into the ocean due to the presence of more CO2

Question 8

what are the long term effects of combustion on the ocean?

Answer 8

• temps rise so diffusion slows

- acidification of the ocean kill phytoplankton so no photosynthesis

Question 9

what is combusitons effect on the biomass CO2?

Answer 9

due to carbon fertilization there will be an increased amount of CO2 in biomass
increased CO2 means increased photosynthesis will occur

Question 10

what is afforestation and what does it do for the flow and store of carbon?

Answer 10

• replanting trees that have been cut down when deforestation
• this means that more photosynthesis will happen so atmospheric stores of carbon decreases and move into biomass store
• leaf litter from trees decays which will then transfer carbon to the soil (respiration from the decomposers will move some carbon to the atmosphere)

Question 11

what are the success of afforestation?

Answer 11

-restores deforestation and photosynthesis

Question 12

what is a negative of afforistation?

Answer 12

-takes a long time for the trees to grow back

Question 13

what is wetland restoration and how does it affect the flows and stores of carbon?

Answer 13

• restores peat so that carbon sequestration can occur
• increased photosynthesis due to more vegetation (atmospheric store of carbon moves to biomass)
• wetlands can sequester carbon for milenia keeping the atmospheric store of carbon low for a long time

Question 14

what is an advantage of wetland restoration?

Answer 14

-long storage of carbon and a very good storage of carbon

Question 15

what are the disadvantages to wetland restoration?

Answer 15

• 80% of wetlands destroyed in mississippi delta meaning its a difficult restoration job
• they only cover 9% of worlds surface so not much

Question 16

what are improved farming practises and how do they effect the flows and stores of carbon?

Answer 16

• no ploughing and agroforestry are examples
• no ploughing means the soil doesn’t get disturbed so carbon within the soil gets preserved
• agroforestery introduces a poly culture where trees are grown in with your crops which increases photosynthesis levels and therefore decreases the atmospheric store and increases the biomass store of carbon

Question 17

what is a pro of improved farming practises?

Answer 17

could help reduce 50Gt-100Gt of global carbon emissions

Question 18

what is a con of improved farming practises?

Answer 18

needs to be done on large scale so can be tricky and expensive