Planetary metabolism: Understanding the carbon cycle
Abstract
Biological systems are intimately involved in the transfers of energy and materials around our planet, affecting the geochemistry and other physical properties of the atmosphere, the land surface, and the oceans and their sediments. Fossil-fuel combustion, land use, and other human activities are, increasingly, disrupting these natural biogeochemical cycles and processes, with the potential for far-reaching consequences; for example, changes in atmospheric composition affecting the global heat balance. The carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles are of particular importance to the functioning of the biosphere, and are also closely linked to the physical climate system. Within IGBP, the global-scale modeling effort is initially focused on the carbon cycle: this is poorly understood--yet is critical to estimating future levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and their direct and indirect interactions with the biosphere. To assist in determining the factors that influence the atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide, the concept of a single half-life is applied to three simple ocean carbon-cycle models and a model of global terrestrial carbon cycling.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- New Hampshire Univ., Durham, NH (United States). Inst. for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space
- OSTI Identifier:
- 6726048
- Report Number(s):
- PB-95-131140/XAB
CNN: EPA-R-816278
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; CARBON CYCLE; BIOGEOCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; GEOCHEMISTRY; 540120* - Environment, Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
Citation Formats
Moore, B, and Braswell, B H. Planetary metabolism: Understanding the carbon cycle. United States: N. p., 1994.
Web.
Moore, B, & Braswell, B H. Planetary metabolism: Understanding the carbon cycle. United States.
Moore, B, and Braswell, B H. 1994.
"Planetary metabolism: Understanding the carbon cycle". United States.
@article{osti_6726048,
title = {Planetary metabolism: Understanding the carbon cycle},
author = {Moore, B and Braswell, B H},
abstractNote = {Biological systems are intimately involved in the transfers of energy and materials around our planet, affecting the geochemistry and other physical properties of the atmosphere, the land surface, and the oceans and their sediments. Fossil-fuel combustion, land use, and other human activities are, increasingly, disrupting these natural biogeochemical cycles and processes, with the potential for far-reaching consequences; for example, changes in atmospheric composition affecting the global heat balance. The carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles are of particular importance to the functioning of the biosphere, and are also closely linked to the physical climate system. Within IGBP, the global-scale modeling effort is initially focused on the carbon cycle: this is poorly understood--yet is critical to estimating future levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and their direct and indirect interactions with the biosphere. To assist in determining the factors that influence the atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide, the concept of a single half-life is applied to three simple ocean carbon-cycle models and a model of global terrestrial carbon cycling.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6726048},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1994},
month = {Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1994}
}