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Three cheers for trees! : a book about our carbon footprint
\"Simple text and color photographs provide an introduction to carbon footprints\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Soil respiration and the environment
The global environment is constantly changing and our planet is getting warmer at an unprecedented rate. The study of the carbon cycle, and soil respiration, is a very active area of research internationally because of its relationship to climate change. It is crucial for our understanding of ecosystem functions from plot levels to global scales. Although a great deal of literature on soil respiration has been accumulated in the past several years, the material has not yet been synthesized into one place until now. This book synthesizes the already published research findings and presents the fundamentals of this subject. Including information on global carbon cycling, climate changes, ecosystem productivity, crop production, and soil fertility, this book will be of interest to scientists, researchers, and students across many disciplines. * A key reference for the scientific community on global climate change, ecosystem studies, and soil ecology* Describes the myriad ways that soils respire and howthis activity influences the environment* Covers a breadth of topics ranging from methodologyto comparative analyses of different ecosystem types* The first existing \"treatise\" on the subject
eBook
Large Chinese land carbon sink estimated from atmospheric carbon dioxide data
Limiting the rise in global mean temperatures relies on reducing carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emissions and on the removal of CO
2
by land carbon sinks. China is currently the single largest emitter of CO
2
, responsible for approximately 27 per cent (2.67 petagrams of carbon per year) of global fossil fuel emissions in 2017
1
. Understanding of Chinese land biosphere fluxes has been hampered by sparse data coverage
2
–
4
, which has resulted in a wide range of a posteriori estimates of flux. Here we present recently available data on the atmospheric mole fraction of CO
2
, measured from six sites across China during 2009 to 2016. Using these data, we estimate a mean Chinese land biosphere sink of −1.11 ± 0.38 petagrams of carbon per year during 2010 to 2016, equivalent to about 45 per cent of our estimate of annual Chinese anthropogenic emissions over that period. Our estimate reflects a previously underestimated land carbon sink over southwest China (Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces) throughout the year, and over northeast China (especially Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces) during summer months. These provinces have established a pattern of rapid afforestation of progressively larger regions
5
,
6
, with provincial forest areas increasing by between 0.04 million and 0.44 million hectares per year over the past 10 to 15 years. These large-scale changes reflect the expansion of fast-growing plantation forests that contribute to timber exports and the domestic production of paper
7
. Space-borne observations of vegetation greenness show a large increase with time over this study period, supporting the timing and increase in the land carbon sink over these afforestation regions.
Newly available atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements from six sites across China during 2009 to 2016 indicate a larger land carbon sink than previously thought, reflecting increased afforestation.
Journal Article
Greenhouse planet : how rising CO₂ changes plants and life as we know it
\"\"CO₂ is plant food\" is a longtime conservative talking point. It's a tricky one because it's not exactly a lie. CO₂ is plant food. But it's more complicated than that. In this book, prominent plant biologist and climate scientist Lewis Ziska explains the complex, mixed results we get when CO₂ in the atmosphere increases. Many crop plants, like rices that much of the world depends on as a staple food, do grow more abundantly under these conditions, but they also become less nutritious. And it turns out that weeds fare even better than other kinds of plants--they flourish and become harder to control. There are many examples like this. Ziska first describes the importance of plants for food, medicine, and culture with the fascination and reverence of someone who has been studying them for decades. Then, he explains the science of what happens to various kinds of plants when atmospheric CO₂ increases (as it currently is). He takes on the \"CO₂ is plant food\" talking point throughout, and especially in the final section of the book, where he reveals the detrimental effects that politics (including funding decisions) have on scientific research\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
The fate of carbon in a mature forest under carbon dioxide enrichment
Atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment (eCO2) can enhance plant carbon uptake and growth1 5, thereby providing an important negative feedback to climate change by slowing the rate of increase of the atmospheric CO2 concentration6. Although evidence gathered from young aggrading forests has generally indicated a strong CO2 fertilization effect on biomass growth3 5, it is unclear whether mature forests respond to eCO2 in a similar way. In mature trees and forest stands7 10, photosynthetic uptake has been found to increase under eCO2 without any apparent accompanying growth response, leaving the fate of additional carbon fixed under eCO2 unclear4,5,7 11. Here using data from the first ecosystem-scale Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment in a mature forest, we constructed a comprehensive ecosystem carbon budget to track the fate of carbon as the forest responded to four years of eCO2 exposure. We show that, although the eCO2 treatment of +150 parts per million (+38 per cent) above ambient levels induced a 12 per cent (+247 grams of carbon per square metre per year) increase in carbon uptake through gross primary production, this additional carbon uptake did not lead to increased carbon sequestration at the ecosystem level. Instead, the majority of the extra carbon was emitted back into the atmosphere via several respiratory fluxes, with increased soil respiration alone accounting for half of the total uptake surplus. Our results call into question the predominant thinking that the capacity of forests to act as carbon sinks will be generally enhanced under eCO2, and challenge the efficacy of climate mitigation strategies that rely on ubiquitous CO2 fertilization as a driver of increased carbon sinks in global forests. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
Journal Article
Dawn of the solar age : an end to global warming and to fear
The sun is heating the planet, with fossil fuels adding to global warming, yet is also a source of alternative fuels.
Book
Global Carbon Budget 2017
Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere – the global carbon budget – is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe data sets and methodology to quantify the five major components of the global carbon budget and their uncertainties. CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry (EFF) are based on energy statistics and cement production data, respectively, while emissions from land-use change (ELUC), mainly deforestation, are based on land-cover change data and bookkeeping models. The global atmospheric CO2 concentration is measured directly and its rate of growth (GATM) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The ocean CO2 sink (SOCEAN) and terrestrial CO2 sink (SLAND) are estimated with global process models constrained by observations. The resulting carbon budget imbalance (BIM), the difference between the estimated total emissions and the estimated changes in the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere, is a measure of imperfect data and understanding of the contemporary carbon cycle. All uncertainties are reported as ±1σ. For the last decade available (2007–2016), EFF was 9.4 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1, ELUC 1.3 ± 0.7 GtC yr−1, GATM 4.7 ± 0.1 GtC yr−1, SOCEAN 2.4 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1, and SLAND 3.0 ± 0.8 GtC yr−1, with a budget imbalance BIM of 0.6 GtC yr−1 indicating overestimated emissions and/or underestimated sinks. For year 2016 alone, the growth in EFF was approximately zero and emissions remained at 9.9 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1. Also for 2016, ELUC was 1.3 ± 0.7 GtC yr−1, GATM was 6.1 ± 0.2 GtC yr−1, SOCEAN was 2.6 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1, and SLAND was 2.7 ± 1.0 GtC yr−1, with a small BIM of −0.3 GtC. GATM continued to be higher in 2016 compared to the past decade (2007–2016), reflecting in part the high fossil emissions and the small SLAND consistent with El Niño conditions. The global atmospheric CO2 concentration reached 402.8 ± 0.1 ppm averaged over 2016. For 2017, preliminary data for the first 6–9 months indicate a renewed growth in EFF of +2.0 % (range of 0.8 to 3.0 %) based on national emissions projections for China, USA, and India, and projections of gross domestic product (GDP) corrected for recent changes in the carbon intensity of the economy for the rest of the world. This living data update documents changes in the methods and data sets used in this new global carbon budget compared with previous publications of this data set (Le Quéré et al., 2016, 2015b, a, 2014, 2013). All results presented here can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.18160/GCP-2017 (GCP, 2017).
Journal Article
Reverse weathering as a long-term stabilizer of marine pH and planetary climate
For the first four billion years of Earth’s history, climate was marked by apparent stability and warmth despite the Sun having lower luminosity
1
. Proposed mechanisms for maintaining an elevated partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (
p
CO
2
) centre on a reduction in the weatherability of Earth’s crust and therefore in the efficiency of carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere
2
. However, the effectiveness of these mechanisms remains debated
2
,
3
. Here we use a global carbon cycle model to explore the evolution of processes that govern marine pH, a factor that regulates the partitioning of carbon between the ocean and the atmosphere. We find that elevated rates of ‘reverse weathering’—that is, the consumption of alkalinity and generation of acidity during marine authigenic clay formation
4
–
7
—enhanced the retention of carbon within the ocean–atmosphere system, leading to an elevated
p
CO
2
baseline. Although this process is dampened by sluggish kinetics today, we propose that more prolific rates of reverse weathering would have persisted under the pervasively silica-rich conditions
8
,
9
that dominated Earth’s early oceans. This distinct ocean and coupled carbon–silicon cycle state would have successfully maintained the equable and ice-free environment that characterized most of the Precambrian period. Further, we propose that during this time, the establishment of a strong negative feedback between marine pH and authigenic clay formation would have also enhanced climate stability by mitigating large swings in
p
CO
2
—a critical component of Earth’s natural thermostat that would have been dominant for most of Earth’s history. We speculate that the late ecological rise of siliceous organisms
8
and a resulting decline in silica-rich conditions dampened the reverse weathering buffer, destabilizing Earth’s climate system and lowering baseline
p
CO
2
.
Elevated rates of reverse weathering within silica-rich oceans led to enhanced carbon retention within the ocean–atmosphere system, promoting a stable, equable ice-free climate throughout Earth’s early to middle ages.
Journal Article