Pool, or reservoir:
Flux:
Amount of an element in a component of the biosphere.
Rate of movement of an element between pools
Anthropogenic
Ch4 is emitted by anaerobic methanogenic bacteria(causing earth to warm up)
Carbon is released into the atmosphere mainly through deforestation (~0.9 Pg) and burning fossil fuels (~9.5 Pg).
Deforestation also warms the soil, increasing decomposition and respiration. Burning trees emits CO₂ along with smaller amounts of CO and CH₄.
Human-caused CO₂ emissions more than doubled between 1970 and 2011. While about half of these emissions are absorbed by oceans and land ecosystems, this capacity is declining as emissions continue to rise.
CO2 has the largest warming impact of the greenhouse gases and
The one increasing the most
How are past CO2 and temperature measured?
CO2: Air bubbles trapped in
ice cores up to ~ 800,000
years
ago
• Before then, we use proxies:
• # of stomatas in
fossil
leaves
• Boron isotopes (which are
a proxy for
pH)
• Temperature relies on
proxies - the ratio of O18 to O1
weather vs climate
Weather: Current state of the atmosphere at
any given
time.
• Climate: Long term description of weather,
including
average conditions and the full
range of variation
climate change
refers to directional change in climate over a period of at least three decades.
Figure 25.14 Plants Are Moving Up the Alps (Part 1)
Richness is increasing at higher elevations, likely
due to warming
Fishes and other marine taxa are moving poleward
and deeper in
response to warming waters
Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD)
Incubation temperature determines the sex of some reptile and fish species
Climate change can result in
feedback loops that magnify (positive feedback loop) or mitigate (negative feedback loop) future change.
A positive feedback loop where warming reduces ice
cover and therefore albedo, leading to more warming
A negative feedback loop where warming melts
glaciers
potentially affecting ocean circulation and reducing heat transfer to Europe
The largest N pool is
N2
- able to convert it to a usable form
- Fixed N are reactive able to participate in chemical reactions
N deposition is also associated with
environmental degradation, loss of diversity, and
acidification
Nitrogen saturation
N deposition may exceed the capacity of plants and microbes to take it up.
Sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere from increased
industrial activity and volcanes caused the lack of warming
In the atmosphere, S and N compounds are
converted to H2SO4
(sulfuric acid) and HNO3
(nitric acid), which are removed by
precipitation
- decreases nutrient supplies and increases toxic metals
- replaces Ca, Mg, K
Satospheric ozone (O3)
-protects earths surface from high energy UVB
- UVB damage DNA and pigments, tumors in aminals, immune etc ( major cause for skin cancer)
- decrease in polar regions
- ozone hole ~ large decrease in springtime ozone over Antartica and increase intensity and spatial extent c
Montreal Protocol (1989)
international agreement that phased out ozone-depleting substances like CFCs to protect and restore the Earth’s ozone layer.