Is The Terrestrial Biosphere?

The Carbon Cycle is a process necessary to all life forms as carbon is used for photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and is found in all living organisms. This process occurs naturally from cellular respiration, decomposition, and volcanic eruptions. However from burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees at a rapid pace carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere at an artificial rate. The overabundance of atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing for global warming. This global warming is causing extreme havoc to the Earth and all of its life forms. However this damage, although cannot be reversed, can be changed for the better.

Does the high level of Carbon Dioxide (C02) possibly harm the Earth’s planetary biosphere, or has it already done so; in fact, many worldwide scientists have protested that the Earth is at its ‘tipping point’ but no efforts have been adapted to save the biosphere? A support of this controversial topic; congressional meeting and testimony, is from one of the top U.S. climate scientists, James Hansen to Former Vice President Al Gore, with an emphasis on the cause of C02. Beyond the ozone layer is atmospherically holey, Earth’s temperature is rising, and the climate changing conversely, one that people trivialized the most is: Global warming. Increasingly, subject to concern not only via online discussion, magazine and

When trees are burned, CO2 is relinquished. The burning of astronomically immense areas of trees is known as deforestation. Human activities integrate more CO2 into the atmosphere through activities like the burning of fossil fuels. The guiding question of this investigation is, “Which carbon cycle process affects atmospheric carbon the most?” The researchers initially wanted to learn 2 things. First, the researchers wanted to learn how much carbon engenderment there would be if they incremented the amount of fossil fuels burnt by a certain amount. The researchers also wanted to learn how much carbon engenderment there would be if they incremented the amount of deforestation.

The carbon cycle has been significantly altered by extracting and combusting billions of tons of hydrocarbons in fossils that were buried deep in the Earth's crust. In addition, clearing vegetation that stores carbon has also impacted the carbon cycle. Global release of carbon through human activities has increased from 1 billion tons per year in 1940 to 6.5 billion tons per year in 2000. About half of this extra carbon is taken up by plants and the oceans, while the other half remains in the atmosphere.

The excess of carbon in the atmosphere is the cause of global climate change. To reverse global warming we must balance the carbon cycle by removing carbon from the atmosphere and returning it to the plants and to the soil (4). Though in the end, carbon exists in everything and the carbon cycle is much more complex because it includes every plant, animal, microbe, fallen tree, body of water, bit of soil, breath of air, plume of smoke, combustion of fossil fuel, decaying particle, and bubble popping to the surface of a swamp (5). Industrial farming has disrupted this cycle. If we completely halted the burning of fossil fuels today, which we can not by any means, climate change would still continue through modern agriculture. The key to reversing global warming is not solely through solar panels and ethanol fuel, but in proper symbiotic farming

“Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations have increased by approximately 40% since the start of the Industrial Revolution” (Wilmers et al. 2012). This increase in atmospheric CO₂ is a leading cause and contributor to Earth’s climate change with effects such as: “measurable global heat retention and elevated atmospheric temperatures, partial melting of the polar ice caps, ocean acidification, and a host of other impacts on Earth’s environments” (Wilmers et al. 2012). Earth’s ecosystems are combating this climate change by helping reduce the concentration of CO₂ and “sequestering C” (Carbon) in the atmosphere through “photosynthesis” (Wilmers et al. 2012). “Kelp forests are among

Tundra is one of the most widespread biomes on the globe. Covering large regions at high latitudes and high altitudes, tundra accounts for five to ten percent of the world’s land surface (1). Studying the ecology of tundra ecosystems is particularly important regarding the subject of climate change. Since climate is changing fastest at high latitudes and altitudes, the tundra ecosystem is currently experiencing rapid changes in its natural environment (2). In addition, tundra acts as a carbon sink, with soils storing more than 90% of the carbon present in this ecosystem (3). Plant growth and litter decomposition are two main factors driving carbon accumulation and release rates. Both of these processes are sensitive to climate change, and alterations in the balance of these processes will affect whether tundra will continue to serve as a carbon sink, or eventually develop into a carbon source, and thus further the greenhouse effect (4).

The overwhelming majority (97%) of carbon dioxide in the earth 's atmosphere comes from nature, not from man. Volcanoes, swamps, rice paddies, fallen leaves, and even insects and bacteria produce carbon dioxide, as well as methane. According to the journalScience (Nov. 5, 1982), termites alone emit ten times more carbon dioxide than all the factories and automobiles in the world. Natural wetlands emit more greenhouse gases than all human activities combined. (If greenhouse warming is such a problem, why are we trying to save all the wetlands?) Geothermal activity in Yellowstone National Park emits ten times the carbon dioxide of a midsized coal-burning power plant, and volcanoes emit hundreds of times more. In fact, our atmosphere 's composition is primarily the result of volcanic activity. There are about 100 active volcanoes today, mostly in remote locations, and we 're living in a period of relatively low volcanic activity. There have been times when volcanic activity was ten times greater than in modern times. But by far the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions is the equatorial Pacific Ocean. It produces 72% of the earth 's emissions of carbon dioxide, and the rest of the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the other oceans also contribute. The human contribution is overshadowed by these far larger sources of carbon dioxide. Combining the factors of water vapor and nature 's production of carbon dioxide, we

Over the past century there is a drastic change on Earth's Atmosphere mainly because of interference of human activities like using fossil fuels as a source of energy, and emission of greenhouse gases due to industrial processes.These activities have release a large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases causing Earth’s average temperature to rise by 1.4’ and is expected to rise up to 11.5’F such changes can result in undesirable consequences.

The release of carbon, however, was released in four phases. First, there was a large release of carbon over the initial 10 years, then it slowed down the next seven years, after the seven years, the emissions resumed, until stopping again recently. The author ends the article hinting that some sort of feedback loop is happening that favors certain organisms that consume carbon in the soil.

Carbon dioxide is defined as a colorless, odorless gas and is naturally present in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is released during respiration and combustion and is intimately connected with the cycles of plant and animal life (Robinson, 2003). For millions of years, the production of greenhouses gases was regulated by the natural systems of the Earth and maintained at levels that supported life around the world (Platt, 2013). It has believed that anthropogenic effects (conditions caused by human activity) that are associated with industry, agriculture, and fossil fuel use have increased the amount of CO2 to levels more than what the planet can naturally regulate, and as a result, contributes to atmospheric warming or the greenhouse effect (M.U.S.E. Sources of CO2 Emissions, 2013). The laboratory applied data collected from five observatories located in Alaska, American Samoa, Antarctica, Greenland, and Hawaii.

Approximately 3.9% of excess carbon is produced outside of the natural carbon cycle, this is largely due to deforestation and human activities. As CO2 is able to strongly absorb infrared radiation it prevents the radiation from leaving the troposphere which results in an increase in the planetary temperature. Furthermore, only 30-35% of chemical energy from carbon is transformed into the required forms of energy, the remaining energy is lost as heat1. It is currently estimated that by 2050 the rise in CO2 and other greenhouse gases will result in a global temperature rise of 0.7-1.5˚C2, although this does not seem like much

Carbon sinks is places that take and keep carbon.(1) The loss of a carbon sink can cause an increase in the greenhouse gases by the ocean floor, the boreal forests, the oceans plants, and coral reefs.(1) Climate Change can cause the loss of a sink, for example millions of years ago the climate back then was hotter, and the seas were more leveled. But then it became the exact opposite, the climate got colder, and the seas got lower.(1)

It is said that the Earth’s climate has been changing for the past century (State Government of Victoria, 2014). There is new found, stronger evidence that there have been increases in the average temperature across the globe and that the believed to be main cause of this change is due to human activities (University Corperation for Atmospheric Research, 2013). Greenhouse gases are what are most commonly referred to in conversation on climate change. Although greenhouse gases are generally referred to on the negative side, they are also essential to life (Mapstone, 2011). The greenhouse gases which consist of carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane retain heat in the earth’s atmosphere, gently warming our planet to sustain life, just as a greenhouse would in a cold climate, which is evidently where it receives its name. The sun warms the surface of the earth, which then radiates energy back towards space through the atmosphere. The greenhouse gases then absorb some of the radiation and radiate heat in different directions, including towards earth. This is now adding to the heat the surface of the earth is already receiving from the sun. Without the aid of this greenhouse affect it is said that the surface of the earth

Bringing black carbon into climate strategy offers a complementary route to act on climate change, but the scientific understanding of black carbon climate effects isn’t fully complete to support this proposition. On the one hand, there’s a group of scientists who conclude that BC is one of the most important human emission in terms of its climate forcing in current atmosphere, as it