The Global Carbon Cycle: A Test of Our Knowledge of Earth as a System

Author:

Falkowski P.1,Scholes R. J.2,Boyle E.3,Canadell J.4,Canfield D.5,Elser J.6,Gruber N.7,Hibbard K.8,Högberg P.9,Linder S.10,Mackenzie F. T.11,Moore III B.8,Pedersen T.12,Rosenthal Y.1,Seitzinger S.1,Smetacek V.13,Steffen W.14

Affiliation:

1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.

2. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Environmental Division, Post Office Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.

3. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 42 Carleton Street, Mail Code: E34-258, Cambridge, MA 02142–1324, USA.

4. Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems International Project Office, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Wildlife and Ecology, Post Office Box 284, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601, Australia.

5. Institute of Biological Sciences, Odense University, 5230 Odense, Denmark.

6. Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Temple, AZ 85287–1501, USA.

7. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, 5853 Slichter Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095–4996, USA.

8. Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, Space, University of New Hampshire, Morse Hall, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, USA.

9. Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-901 83 Umea, Sweden.

10. Department for Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Post Office Box 7042, S750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.

11. Department of Oceanography, SOEST, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA.

12. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.

13. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany.

14. IGBP Secretariat, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Box 50005 Lilia Frescativagen 4, S-10405 Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Motivated by the rapid increase in atmospheric CO 2 due to human activities since the Industrial Revolution, several international scientific research programs have analyzed the role of individual components of the Earth system in the global carbon cycle. Our knowledge of the carbon cycle within the oceans, terrestrial ecosystems, and the atmosphere is sufficiently extensive to permit us to conclude that although natural processes can potentially slow the rate of increase in atmospheric CO 2 , there is no natural “savior” waiting to assimilate all the anthropogenically produced CO 2 in the coming century. Our knowledge is insufficient to describe the interactions between the components of the Earth system and the relationship between the carbon cycle and other biogeochemical and climatological processes. Overcoming this limitation requires a systems approach.

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference71 articles.

1. Energy implications of future stabilization of atmospheric CO2 content

2. J. T. Houghton G. J. Jenkins J. J. Ephraums Eds. Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment (Cambridge Univ. Press Cambridge 1996).

3. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) is an umbrella organization that coordinates (but does not fund) large multinational research programs. Several of these programs have focused on the carbon cycle in specific reservoirs: The flagship program for terrestrial ecosystems is Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE); for the oceans it is the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS); for the atmosphere it is International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC); and for paleochemistry and paleoclimate it is Past Global Changes (PAGES).

4. Arrhenius S., Philos. Mag. J. Sci. (London, Edinburgh, Dublin) 41, 237 (1896).

5. M. I. Budyko The Earth's Climate: Past and Future (Academic Press New York 1982).

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3