Questions and Answers
What is the Carbon Cycle?
What do land producers do?
They remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
What are aquatic producers?
Plants that do photosynthesis and manufacture food, removing CO2 from water.
What is the role of decomposers in the Carbon Cycle?
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What are marine sediments?
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How are fossil fuels formed?
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How do humans intervene with the Carbon Cycle?
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What does organic material contain?
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Which reservoirs contain the most carbon?
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What are carbon sources?
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What are carbon sinks?
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What does flux refer to?
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What is the safe level of CO2?
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What factors influence carbon concentration?
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What does sequester or sequestration mean?
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What happens to algae during sequestration?
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At what state of temperature do carbonated items contain more CO2?
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What is a feedback loop?
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What do pH levels indicate?
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What is the Keeling Curve?
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What is CO2's role in the environment?
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What is albedo?
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What greenhouse gases have the highest warming potential?
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What is mitigation in environmental terms?
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What is adaptation in the context of climate change?
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What contributes more to CO2 emissions: economic growth or population growth?
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What is the greenhouse effect?
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Study Notes
The Carbon Cycle
- Involves the exchange of carbon among four main reservoirs: atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere, oceans, and sediments.
- Relies on photosynthesis and aerobic respiration by living organisms.
Land Producers
- Remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
- Examples include trees, grass, and plants.
Aquatic Producers
- Remove CO2 from water through photosynthesis to produce food.
- Include phytoplankton, algae, kelp, and mosses.
Decomposers
- Release carbon from dead organisms back into the atmosphere as CO2.
- In aquatic environments, they convert insoluble carbonates in sediments back to carbon.
Marine Sediments
- Contain Earth's largest supply of carbon.
Fossil Fuels
- Formed from compressed dead plant matter and bacteria under high pressure and heat.
- Nonrenewable resources, includes coal (40%), oil (40%), and natural gas (20%).
Human Impact on the Carbon Cycle
- Contribute to excess CO2 emissions by deforestation and burning fossil fuels and wood.
- Deforestation in tropical regions reduces CO2 absorption capability of trees.
Organic Material
- Composed of carbon and hydrogen.
Major Carbon Reservoirs
- Oceans are the largest carbon reservoir, followed by soil, atmosphere, and standing biomass (plants and trees).
Carbon Sources
- Reservoirs that release more carbon than they absorb; anthropogenic emissions are notable sources.
Carbon Sinks
- Reservoirs that absorb and store more carbon than they release, helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
- Examples include forests and oceans.
Carbon Flux
- Refers to the rate of transfer of carbon between different reservoirs.
Safe CO2 Levels
- Ideal concentration is around 340-350 parts per million (ppm).
Influencing Factors on Carbon Concentration
- Elevation, population density, temperature, wind patterns, and vegetation.
Sequestration
- The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere.
- Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a type of carbon sequestration.
Algae and Fossil Fuel Formation
- Algae undergo long-term pressurization at the ocean's bottom, transforming into fossil fuels.
Temperature and Carbonated Items
- Colder conditions increase CO2 retention in carbonated items.
Feedback Loop
- A cyclical process where an effect feeds back to increase or decrease the initial cause.
pH Levels
- Scale ranges from 0 (acidic) to 14 (basic), with 7 as neutral.
Keeling Curve
- Graph tracking the ongoing increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration since 1958, measured at Mauna Loa Observatory.
Properties of CO2
- Non-combustible gas that forms carbonic acid in oceans, lowering seawater pH and affecting marine life.
Albedo
- Measure of surface reflectivity; high albedo surfaces (e.g., snow, ice) reflect more solar radiation than they absorb.
Greenhouse Gases with High Warming Potential
- Nitrous Oxide (NOx) has a warming potential 296 times that of CO2.
- Methane (CH4) is 23 times more effective than CO2 but has a shorter atmospheric residence time.
Mitigation
- Actions taken to reduce the severity of climate change impacts.
Adaptation
- Adjusting societal and environmental strategies in response to climate change.
Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions
- Economic growth is a greater contributor to CO2 emissions compared to population growth.
Greenhouse Effect
- The trapping of heat in the Earth's atmosphere by greenhouse gases, leading to global warming.
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Test your knowledge of the carbon cycle with these flashcards. Explore the roles of terrestrial and aquatic producers in the exchange of carbon among Earth's reservoirs. Perfect for understanding photosynthesis and respiration processes.