Carbon flux - Revision history

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	<onlyinclude>A '''carbon flux''' is the amount of [[carbon]] ''exchanged'' between Earth's [[carbon pool]]s - the [[ocean]]s, [[atmosphere]], land, and living things - and is typically measured in units of [[gigatonne]]s of carbon per year (GtC/yr).<ref name=cc>M. Melieres and C. Marechal, "The carbon cycle prior to the industrial era," in ''Climate Change: Past, Present and Future'' 1st ed., U.K.: Wiley, 2015, ch.29, sec.1, pp. 298-301</ref> A gigatonne is a tremendous amount of [[mass]], roughly twice the mass of all humans on Earth combined, or the mass of about 200 million elephants!</onlyinclude>		<onlyinclude>A '''carbon flux''' is the amount of [[carbon]] ''exchanged'' between Earth's [[carbon pool]]s - the [[ocean]]s, [[atmosphere]], land, and living things - and is typically measured in units of [[gigatonne]]s of carbon per year (GtC/yr).<ref name=cc>M. Melieres and C. Marechal, "The carbon cycle prior to the industrial era," in ''Climate Change: Past, Present and Future'' 1st ed., U.K.: Wiley, 2015, ch.29, sec.1, pp. 298-301</ref> A gigatonne is a tremendous amount of [[mass]], roughly twice the mass of all humans on Earth combined, or the mass of about 200 million elephants!</onlyinclude>

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	The human exchange of carbon is mostly a one-way street, as [[fossil fuel]]s are extracted from deep underground (where they have essentially no effect on the planet) and introduced into the carbon cycle. Fossil fuels give us [[energy]] that can be used in many ways, such as [[electrical generation]] in [[power plant]]s, or [[transportation]] using [[motor vehicle]]s. The [[combustion\|burning]] of fossil fuels, however, introduces large amounts of [[carbon dioxide]] and other forms of carbon (such as [[methane]] and [[black carbon]]) into the atmosphere.<ref name=cc1>M. Melieres and C. Marechal, "Changes related to human activity," in ''Climate Change: Past, Present and Future'' 1st ed., U.K.: Wiley, 2015, ch.29, sec.3, pp. 310-312</ref> These human induced carbon fluxes can be read about more [[anthropogenic emissions\|here]].		The human exchange of carbon is mostly a one-way street, as [[fossil fuel]]s are extracted from deep underground (where they have essentially no effect on the planet) and introduced into the carbon cycle. Fossil fuels give us [[energy]] that can be used in many ways, such as [[electrical generation]] in [[power plant]]s, or [[transportation]] using [[motor vehicle]]s. The [[combustion\|burning]] of fossil fuels, however, introduces large amounts of [[carbon dioxide]] and other forms of carbon (such as [[methane]] and [[black carbon]]) into the atmosphere.<ref name=cc1>M. Melieres and C. Marechal, "Changes related to human activity," in ''Climate Change: Past, Present and Future'' 1st ed., U.K.: Wiley, 2015, ch.29, sec.3, pp. 310-312</ref> These human induced carbon fluxes can be read about more [[anthropogenic emissions\|here]].

	The input of this carbon from humans may not look like much compared to the tremendous amounts of carbon cycled naturally, however it introduces a net increase of carbon each year which is what matters. This net increase is responsible for worrying [[climate change]] problems such as [[global warming]] and [[ocean acidification]]. Figure 2 below shows ~~exactly~~ how ~~much~~ human carbon is input ~~each year, and where it goes~~.<Ref name=cc/>		The input of this carbon from humans may not look like much compared to the tremendous amounts of carbon cycled naturally, however it introduces a net increase of carbon each year which is what matters. This net increase is responsible for worrying [[climate change]] problems such as [[global warming]] and [[ocean acidification]]. Figure 2 below shows how the human carbon input splits into different carbon sinks.<Ref name=cc/>

	[[File:~~humancarbon~~.png\|~~750px~~\|thumb\|center\|Figure 2. The net emissions from human activity, and ~~the amount that ends up in Earth's~~ three broad carbon pools. ~~Amounts are measured~~ in ~~[[gigatonne]]s of carbon~~.<ref>~~Information~~ from ~~Ref~~.~~3, images from Wikimedia Commons~~.</ref>]]		[[File:Anthropogenic_carbon_emission_Sankey.png\|820px\|thumb\|center\|Figure 2. The net emissions from human activity go into the atmosphere, and natural processes distribute those GHGs into three broad carbon pools. With roughly half staying in the atmosphere and the other half being somewhat evenly split between the land and the ocean.<ref name=cc/> <ref> Images taken from https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-jdbya
			https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stenshuvud_forrest.jpg</ref>]]

			==For Further Reading==
			*[[High energy society]]
			*[[Climate forcing]]
			*[[Indicators of a warming world]]
			*[[Climate change]]
			*Or explore a [[Special:Random\|random page]]

	==References==		==References==
	{{reflist}}		{{reflist}}
			[[Category:Uploaded]]

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[[Category:Done 2016-01-15]]
<onlyinclude>A '''carbon flux''' is the amount of [[carbon]] ''exchanged'' between Earth's [[carbon pool]]s - the [[ocean]]s, [[atmosphere]], land, and living things - and is typically measured in units of [[gigatonne]]s of carbon per year (GtC/yr).<ref name=cc>M. Melieres and C. Marechal, "The carbon cycle prior to the industrial era," in ''Climate Change: Past, Present and Future'' 1st ed., U.K.: Wiley, 2015, ch.29, sec.1, pp. 298-301</ref> A gigatonne is a tremendous amount of [[mass]], roughly twice the mass of all humans on Earth combined, or the mass of about 200 million elephants!</onlyinclude>

These carbon pools contain enormous quantities of carbon and exchange this matter in various ways. The consequences of this exchange will not be explored deeply on this page, and can instead be read in more detail [[carbon cycle|here]].

==Earth's Carbon Exchange==

The Earth's carbon is exchanged globally in what is known as the '''[[carbon cycle]]'''. This cycle exchanges immense quantities of carbon each year, with values shown in Figure 1 below. (Remember, each value in this figure represents 1 gigatonne, the mass of 200 million elephants.) The carbon cycle balances almost perfectly naturally, however when humans introduce carbon that was originally buried underground, this introduces an imbalance, as shown in '''red''' text in Figure 1.

[[File:Carbon_cycle.jpg|780px|thumb|center|Figure 1. The carbon cycle of the Earth. Numbers represent the mass of carbon in gigatonnes (not the molecules, just carbon alone) that is cycled in a year. '''Yellow''' text is the natural carbon cycle, with '''red''' text showing human effects.<ref>Wikimedia Commons [Online]. (June 5 2015). Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle#/media/File:Carbon_cycle.jpg</ref> Notice that the 9 gigatonnes of carbon that humans are emitting (~35 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide) becomes an extra 4 gigatonnes in the atmosphere, an extra 3 gigatonnes of photosynthesis and an extra 2 gigatonnes in the ocean every year. This is how humans are changing the natural carbon cycle.]]

===Natural Exchanges===
:''[[natural carbon cycle|main article]]''
There are two main '''natural exchanges''', which make up the [[natural carbon cycle]]. This page only discusses the quantities of carbon exchanged in each, however the ''main article'' link above explains exactly how these exchanges take place.

*'''Land-atmosphere''' - This land exchange cycles carbon primarily by use of plant [[photosynthesis]] and respiration. As seen in Figure 1, roughly 120 GtC are pulled in each year via photosynthesis, and 120 are emitted back into the atmosphere by respiration and decomposition. The ''net'' exchange is close to zero, meaning that this cycle does not increase carbon levels in either carbon pool.

*'''Ocean-atmosphere''' - The ocean cycles carbon through [[pressure]] differences with the atmosphere. Around 90 GtC are exchanged throughout this cycle, and much like the land-atmosphere cycle, the ''net'' exchange is around zero.

These exchanges both occur on very different timescales, with the land cycle occurring at a high rate while the ocean cycle is much slower.

===Human Exchange===
:''[[carbon cycle#Human Effect on the Carbon Cycle|main article]]''
The human exchange of carbon is mostly a one-way street, as [[fossil fuel]]s are extracted from deep underground (where they have essentially no effect on the planet) and introduced into the carbon cycle. Fossil fuels give us [[energy]] that can be used in many ways, such as [[electrical generation]] in [[power plant]]s, or [[transportation]] using [[motor vehicle]]s. The [[combustion|burning]] of fossil fuels, however, introduces large amounts of [[carbon dioxide]] and other forms of carbon (such as [[methane]] and [[black carbon]]) into the atmosphere.<ref name=cc1>M. Melieres and C. Marechal, "Changes related to human activity," in ''Climate Change: Past, Present and Future'' 1st ed., U.K.: Wiley, 2015, ch.29, sec.3, pp. 310-312</ref> These human induced carbon fluxes can be read about more [[anthropogenic emissions|here]].

The input of this carbon from humans may not look like much compared to the tremendous amounts of carbon cycled naturally, however it introduces a net increase of carbon each year which is what matters. This net increase is responsible for worrying [[climate change]] problems such as [[global warming]] and [[ocean acidification]]. Figure 2 below shows exactly how much human carbon is input each year, and where it goes.<Ref name=cc/>

[[File:humancarbon.png|750px|thumb|center|Figure 2. The net emissions from human activity, and the amount that ends up in Earth's three broad carbon pools. Amounts are measured in [[gigatonne]]s of carbon.<ref>Information from Ref.3, images from Wikimedia Commons.</ref>]]

==References==
{{reflist}}