Geography A-Level - Physical - Impacts of the Carbon Cycle
- Created by: Noah_S
- Created on: 15-06-21 16:15
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- Impacts of the Carbon Cycle
- On the Cycle
- Natural Processes
- Wildfires
- Rapidly transfers large amounts of carbon from biomass to atmospheric
- Loss of vegetation decreases photosynthesis, so less carbon is removed
- Can encourage growth of new plants in the longer term, which can make it carbon neutral
- Volcanic Activity
- Carbon stored within the Lithosphere transferred to the Atmosphere
- Recent volcanic eruptions have released less carbon than anthropogenic sources, but there is potential to a very large eruption to disrupt the cycle significantly
- Wildfires
- Human Processes
- Farming practices
- Agriculture releases carbon via animals respiring and digesting food, ploughing soil which releases carbon and more
- As the world's population has risen, carbon emissions from farming practices has increases. Mechanisation of farming has also increased carbon emissions
- Deforestration
- 13 Million Ha of forests are deforested each year
- If the cleared forest is burned, there is a rapid flow of carbon from the biosphere to the atmosphere
- Cleared forest means there is less photosynthesis, reducing the intake of carbon from the atmosphere
- Land use changes
- Cities are responsible for around 47% of carbon emissions in 2012, expected to increase to 49% in 2030
- Concrete production contributes 5% of anthropogenic carbon, releasing lots of carbon into the atmosphere when urban areas expand
- Fossil Fuels
- Extracting and burning of fossil fuels transfers lithospheric carbon into atmospheric
- Without human intervention, the carbon would remain sequestered in the lithosphere, so humans are adding more carbon into the cycle
- Farming practices
- Natural Processes
- From the Cycle
- Land
- If there were no carbon in the atmosphere, photosynthesis could not take place
- Changes can reduce the amount of carbon stored in the land, like warming temperatures release carbon stored in permafrost
- An increase in global temperatures could also increase the frequency of wildfires
- Atmosphere and Climate
- Carbon in the atmosphere act as greenhouse gases, trapping some heat in the atmosphere
- As greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase, temperatures are expected to rise
- Changes in the temperature across the globe, it will affect other aspects of the climates, such as more intense storms
- Oceans
- Increased carbon in the atmosphere can increase the acidity of the oceans, as they absorb CO2. This can have adverse effects on marine life
- Global warming can also affects oceans, such as phytoplankton which may not be able to survive higher temperatures, meaning less carbon is removed from the atmosphere
- Warmer water may not be able to absorb as much CO2, so as temperatures increase the potential amount of carbon able to be dissolved decreases
- Land
- On the Cycle
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