GLOBE Carbon Cycle:
The Carbon Cycle
University of New Hampshire: Jennifer Bourgeault,
Rita Freuder, Lara Gengarelly, Mary Martin, Scott
Ollinger, Sarah Sallade, Annette Schloss, Haley
Wicklein
Czech Republic: Jana Albrechtova, Kateřina
Čiháková, Zuzana Lhotakova, Barbora Semeráková,
Premek Stych, Dana Votapkova
GLOBE Program Office: Gary Randolph
Ask yourself this question:
How do I interact with the Carbon Cycle?
I live in a house
I eat food
I drive a car
I plant trees
I wear clothes
I breathe
I cut my grass
If we want to understand anything about climate
change we must learn about the most important
atom –
NPR Video Episode 1 : It's All About Carbon
Episode 2
Carbon: A building block of life
• The most abundant element in living things
• Accounts for 45-50% of the total mass of the
biosphere.
• Also present in the Earth’s, atmosphere, soil,
oceans, and crust
The Carbon Cycle
The Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas
The Greenhouse Effect (continued)
Changing Atmospheric Conditions
Mauna Loa Hawaii CO2 Record
400
Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)
390
380
370
360
350
340
330
320
310
300
1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
Year
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Level of Certainty: 100%
Annual
Increase
January
March
May
July
September
November
January
March
May
July
September
November
January
March
May
July
September
November
January
March
May
July
September
November
January
March
May
July
September
Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)
Changing Atmospheric Conditions
Mauna Loa Hawaii CO 2 Record
376
374
372
370
368
366
364
362
360
Month
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Changing Atmospheric Conditions
Annual Global Chlorophyll Concentration
– NASA Earth animation
MODIS NDVI in Southern & Northern Hemisphere
The Pulse of the Planet:
Estimated Chlorophyll Concentration
SeaWiFS Satellite Data
January 1998
The Pulse of the Planet:
Estimated Chlorophyll Concentration
SeaWiFS Satellite Data
July 1998
Atmospheric CO2 Over Geologic Time Scales
Vostok Ice Core CO2 Record
420,000 years ago to the present
CO2 concentration (ppmv)
Atmospheric CO2 Over Geologic Time Scales
Vostok Ice Core CO2 Record
420,000 years ago to the present
Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)
400
Present (2011)
Ice Core Data
350
Mauna Loa Record
Inter-Glacial
Maximum
300
Glacial
Minimum
250
200
Barnola et al. 1999
150
400,000
300,000
200,000
Years Before Present
100,000
0
Projected Increases in CO2
700
Projected (2100)
650
Vostok Record
Vostok
Record
IPCC IS92a
Scenario
Mauna
Loa
Record
Law Dome Record
IPCC
IS92a
Mauna
Loa Scenario
Record
600
500
Understanding the future of
atmospheric CO2 is Critical
450
400
Current (2011)
350
300
250
200
150
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
CO2 Concentration (ppmv)
550
Temperature Changes Mirror Changes in CO2
Video: How do we know? Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming
“Planet Earth Has Entered a
NEW Era That Has No Historical
Precedent”
Berrien Moore III
Chairman International Global Biosphere Program
Director Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space
“The Earth’s Climate System is an
Angry Beast and We are Poking it
with Sticks”
Wallace Broeker
Columbia University, Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory
Questions about the Carbon Cycle???
Mauna
Loa