EQ1: How does the carbon cycle operate to maintain planetary health? GapFill

There is an estimated  101,11011010,010 million gigatons of carbon on Earth.  The largest store of carbon is in the lithosphere (the rocks).  This weighs in at 65.5 million gigatons, over half of the total global carbon.  Carbonate rocks include  sandstonebasaltobsidianlimestone and chalk.  There’s a lot of CO₂ dissolved in the oceans, which make up the largest part of the  hydrospherecryospherehaloserelithosere.  We also find carbon stored within the frozen permafrost (which is the cryosphere).  The biosphere is the living (and recently living) component, and includes all of the  soilmineralswaterbiomass in trees and living plants, and the leaf litter layer.  CO₂ is a trace gas in the atmosphere, but it’s vitally important in regulating Earth’s  seresspheresclimatecycle.

We can look at the carbon cycle and its flows on different scales, including: plant (how much CO₂ an individual plant or tree uses for photosynthesis, how much it loses through  dropping leavesrespirationphotosynthesisdecomposition, and how much biomass is created), the sere (the type of ecosystem and its stage of development) and continental.  We look at all of the ecosystems on a large scale.

The carbon cycle is not always in a state of dynamic  equilibriumphotosynthesismelodiesbalance.  There are changes to the stores and flows over time. Some are natural, while others are caused by us.

Wildfires are not just natural.  They burn in a variety of different ecosystems, mainly in different types of forest and in savanna grasslands.  They are naturally caused by  bonfireslightning strikespower linesmatches, or we accidentally (or deliberately!) start them.

Volcanoes release CO₂ from the  subductionupliftweatheringsubsidence and melting of sedimentary rock.  They don’t produce a significant amount of CO₂ compared to us, but in the past they were able to significantly alter the climate.

When we develop land, we change the carbon storage; for example, loss of biomass, release of soil carbon, and some of the land uses generate  icehousepalm housegreenhousehothouse gases.  As we urbanise, we concentrate our population into smaller areas and become major sources of emissions.

We are also burning  moderntarfossilwater gas fuels in large quantities, for transport, heating and electricity production.  By burning these fuels, we are releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere as CO₂.

We are changing the carbon  tariffcoalbudgetcapture.  Doing so will have impacts on our climate, land, atmosphere and ocean.  For example, we are likely to have more frequent droughts and forest fires, and extreme weather events such as storms and powerful hurricanes.

The oceans are absorbing  CH4heatsoundlight and CO₂.  They’re helping to lessen the effects of climate change, but they’re not as healthy as they should be as a result because increased acidity is affecting creatures with carbonate shells, and increased temperature is bleaching coral.  Less ice reduces reflectivity, increasing heat absorption, and sea level is rising as more land ice melts.

One of the most obvious link between the water and carbon cycles is the amount of  precipitatewater vapourcondensationdroplets in the atmosphere.  CO₂ is said to set the temperature, controlling the amount of water vapour, and, therefore, it controls the extent of climate change.  This is because temperature affects the atmosphere’s ability to hold water.   CoolerMildFreezingWarmer air can hold more water.  The more water there is in the atmosphere, the greater the potential for intense precipitation and flooding.