IPCC Chapter 3, The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Climate Change 2001:Working Group I: The Scientific Basis

Table of contentsSummaryForewordPrefaceSummary for PolicymakersTechnical SummaryChapter 1. The Climate System: an OverviewChapter 2. Observed Climate Variability and ChangeChapter 3. The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric Carbon DioxideChapter 4. Atmospheric Chemistry and Greenhouse GasesChapter 5. Aerosols, their Direct and Indirect EffectsChapter 6. Radiative Forcing of Climate ChangeChapter 7. Physical Climate Processes and 3. The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
Content
Executive Summary
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Terrestrial and Ocean Biogeochemistry: Update on Processes
3.2.1 Overview of the Carbon Cycle3.2.2 Terrestrial Carbon Processes3.2.2.1 Background3.2.2.2 Effects of changes in land use and land management3.2.2.3 Effects of climate3.2.2.4 Effects of increasing atmospheric CO23.2.2.5 Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen deposition3.2.2.6 Additional impacts of changing atmospheric chemistry3.2.2.7 Additional constraints on terrestrial CO2 uptake3.2.3 Ocean Carbon Processes3.2.3.1 Background3.2.3.2 Uptake of anthropogenic CO23.2.3.3 Future changes in ocean CO2 uptake
3.3 Palaeo CO2 and Natural Changes in the Carbon Cycle
3.3.1 Geological History of Atmospheric CO23.3.2 Variations in Atmospheric CO2 during Glacial/inter-glacial Cycles3.3.3 Variations in Atmospheric CO2 during the Past 11,000 Years3.3.4 Implications
3.4 Anthropogenic Sources of CO2
3.4.1 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Burning and Cement Production3.4.2 Consequences of Land-use Change
3.5 Observations, Trends and Budgets
3.5.1 Atmospheric Measurements and Global CO2 Budgets3.5.2 Interannual Variability in the Rate of Atmospheric CO2 Increase3.5.3 Inverse Modelling of Carbon Sources and Sinks3.5.4 Terrestrial Biomass Inventories
3.6 Carbon Cycle Model Evaluation
3.6.1 Terrestrial and Ocean Biogeochemistry Models3.6.2 Evaluation of Terrestrial Models3.6.2.1 Natural carbon cycling on land3.6.2.2 Uptake and release of anthropogenic CO2 by the land3.6.3 Evaluation of Ocean Models3.6.3.1 Natural carbon cycling in the ocean3.6.3.2 Uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by the ocean
3.7 Projections of CO2 Concentration and their Implications
3.7.1 Terrestrial Carbon Model Responses to Scenarios of Change in CO2 and Climate3.7.2 Ocean Carbon Model Responses to Scenarios of Change in CO2 and Climate3.7.3 Coupled Model Responses and Implications for Future CO2 Concentrations3.7.3.1 Methods for assessing the response of atmospheric CO2 to different emissions athways and model sensitivities3.7.3.2 Concentration projections based on IS92a, for comparison with previous studies3.7.3.3 SRES scenarios and their implications for future CO2 concentration3.7.3.4 Stabilisation scenarios and their implications for future CO2 emissions3.7.4 Conclusions
References
Co-ordinating Lead AuthorI.C. Prentice
Lead AuthorsG.D. Farquhar, M.J.R. Fasham, M.L. Goulden, M. Heimann, V.J. Jaramillo, H.S. Kheshgi, C. Le Quéré, R.J. Scholes, D.W.R. Wallace
Contributing AuthorsD. Archer, M.R. Ashmore, O. Aumont, D. Baker, M. Battle, M. Bender, L.P. Bopp, P. Bousquet, K. Caldeira, P. Ciais, P.M. Cox, W. Cramer, F. Dentener, I.G. Enting, C.B. Field, P. Friedlingstein, E.A. Holland, R.A. Houghton, J.I. House, A. Ishida, A.K. Jain, I.A. Janssens, F. Joos, T. Kaminski, C.D. Keeling, R.F. Keeling, D.W. Kicklighter, K.E. Kohfeld, W. Knorr, R. Law, T. Lenton, K. Lindsay, E. Maier-Reimer, A.C. Manning, R.J. Matear, A.D. McGuire, J.M. Melillo, R. Meyer, M. Mund, J.C. Orr, S. Piper, K. Plattner, P.J. Rayner, S. Sitch, R. Slater, S. Taguchi, P.P. Tans, H.Q. Tian, M.F. Weirig, T. Whorf, A. Yool
Review EditorsL. Pitelka, A. Ramirez Rojas

Nir J. Shaviv, Associate Professor, Phsyicist and Climate Scientist

This is some background and more information from Nir J. Shaviv.

The Author
This site is maintained by Nir J. Shaviv, who is an associate professor at the Racah Institute of Physics in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to PhysicaPlus: "...his research interests cover a wide range of topics in astrophysics, most are related to the application of fluid dynamics, radiation transfer or high energy physics to a wide range of objects - from stars and compact objects to galaxies and the early universe. His studies on the possible relationships between cosmic rays intensity and the Earth's climate, and the Milky Way's Spiral Arms and Ice Age Epochs on Earth were widely echoed in the scientific literature, as well as in the general press."


from: http://www.sciencebits.com/myresearch


Home
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I am an associate professor at the Racah Institute of Physics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Below are links to some of the more serious research I do, all explained in laymen terms. (A friend of mine always says, if you cannot explain your research in laymen terms, you probably don't understand what you're doing!).
Very Luminous Stars (and other astrophysical objects)
Passing the Eddington limit without getting a ticket: A detailed summary of the theory of porous atmospheres and how they can explain the existance of super-Eddington objects.
Cosmic Rays, their effect on the Terrestrial Climate, Global Warming, etc.
The Milky Way's Spiral Arms and Ice Ages on Earth: A detailed summary of the evidence linking between passages of the Solar system through the Milky Way spiral arm, and the appearance of ice age epochs on Earth. This including the cosmic ray flux reconstruction from iron meteorites.
The Cosmic Ray / CO2 / Climate Debate: During 2003/04, a debate raged over the question of whether CO2 is the main climate driver over geological time scales, or whether it is the cosmic rays which are dominent. Here you'll find the attacks and rebuttels.
Cosmic Rays and Climate: A general review on the development of our understanding of the link between cosmic rays flux variations and climate.
Natural or Anthropogenic? Which mechanism is responsible for global warming over the 20th century?
A primer on Climate Sensitivity, why global circulation models cannot predict it, and why empirical evidence suggests it is small. Summary of the Current Evidence for a Cosmic Ray Climate link -->Polarization Behavior of light near Magnetized Neutron Stars -->
Related research:
Celestial Climate Driver: A Perspective from Four Billion Years of the Carbon Cycle - Summary of the above research from a geochemist's point of view, that of my colleague Prof. Jan Veizer.

Carbon Cycle....So Complex, So Interesting...

More on the carbon cycle.......how little we (I) know.
Peter

from:
http://forum.physorg.com/index.php?s=2754712d24bb02faebcd1d559c164795&showtopic=7157&st=15


The CO2 level of the atmosphere is regulated by the water in the atmosphere,
i.e. CO2 is readily absorbed by water to form carbonic acid H2CO3. The carbonic has a much lower vapor pressure than CO2 and will stay in the water. The rain falls to the oceans, which are slightly alkaline. This neutralizes the carbonic acid to form carbonate and bicarbonate (shells and coral), fixing the CO2 in even lower vapor pressure ways.

A chimney stack CO2 scrubber (e.g. to remove CO2 from burning coal, Peter's comment) works by the same principles, with CO2 rising up the stack and water raining downward. If by chance the CO2 was to accumulate to form a greenhouse affect, that means warmer global air. The warmer air means more evaporation of surface water and bigger thunder clouds. The net affect is more water in the atmosphere to rain and scrub out the excess CO2, with the bigger thunderclouds reaching higher into the upper atmosphere to get at the higher height CO2.

The warmer climate and the greater amount of rain due to the higher CO2 also means that more plants are able to grow and last longer. The greater plants density will also increase their rate of CO2 absorption. With all these affects, the tide will eventually change with the CO2 levels gradually dropping. This will lead to cooling. The lower CO2 and cooling means less evaporated water and less scrubbing of the atmosphere. Relative to the plants the cooler air combined with less rain means less plant growth, less CO2 absorption and forest fires. The latter will help increase the CO2 levels for another cycle.

The Earth's Carbon Cycle......Fascinating......Complex

Here is a brief exchange between atmospheric scientists:
Peter

From:
http://forum.physorg.com/index.php?s=2754712d24bb02faebcd1d559c164795&showtopic=7157&st=15


QUOTE (MDT @ Aug 15 2006, 02:23 AM)
One big source of CO2 that rivals industrial input are forest fires.
But isn't that primarily CO2 that the trees initially took out of the atmosphere to grow? As opposed, that is, to CO2 from carbon that's been sequestered underground for millions of years.

Yes, Which is the same reason why BioFuels are considered CO2 neutral.On the other hand, the release of HUGE quantities of sequestered CO2 from raging forest fires can't be ignored either. While OVER TIME, the forests will regrow and that CO2 will be removed, that is a LONG time period.Further, keep in mind that each year the EARTH outgasses significant quantities of CO2 (far greater than man) and significant quantities are sequestered (some permanently, some semi-permanently, some temporarily) We ONLY guess at the CO2 cycle of the planet, where it all comes from and where it all goes is BEYOND our ability to measure. Arthur