Carbon cycling refers to the set of biogeochemical processes that regulate the transformation, transport, and storage of carbon among major Earth system reservoirs, including the atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere, oceans, and lithosphere. It encompasses autotrophic carbon fixation, heterotrophic respiration, decomposition, sedimentation, weathering, and anthropogenic fluxes such as fossil fuel combustion and land-use change. Research on carbon cycling quantifies fluxes and pool sizes, characterizes feedbacks between carbon reservoirs and climate, and employs observational networks, isotopic tracers, and Earth system models to constrain budgets, residence times, and perturbation responses across temporal scales from diurnal to geologic.
The ocean plays a large role in cycling carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Determining how much carbon is locked away in the ocean is critical to understanding Earth's changing climate. However, measuring and monitoring oceanographic ...
Earth Sciences
May 6, 2025
0
83
Mars, one of our closest planetary neighbors, has fascinated people for hundreds of years, partly because it is so similar to Earth. It is about the same size, contains similar rocks and minerals, and is not too much farther ...
Planetary Sciences
May 6, 2025
0
49
As the new Biomass satellite settles into life in orbit following its launch on April 29, ESA has released its most extensive satellite-based maps of above-ground forest carbon to date. Spanning nearly two decades, the dataset ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2025
0
47
Have you ever thought about what would happen if all life in the ocean disappeared? A recent study explores this extreme scenario to understand how ocean biology shapes the past, present, and future climate.
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2025
0
54
ESA's Biomass satellite, designed to provide unprecedented insights into the world's forests and their crucial role in Earth's carbon cycle, has been launched. The satellite lifted off aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe's ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 29, 2025
0
35
Glaciers provide a unique opportunity for researchers to measure levels of atmospheric carbon deposition. Unlike other terrestrial ecosystems, these slow-moving rivers of ice do not have other large reservoirs of soil or ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 28, 2025
0
27
A new study led by Jochen Knies from the iC3 Polar Research Hub has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of Arctic fjords to serve as effective carbon sinks. The findings suggest that the ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 25, 2025
0
182
The resuspension of seafloor sediments—triggered by human activities such as bottom trawling as well as natural processes like storms and tides—can significantly increase the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 24, 2025
1
58
Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a proposed method of carbon dioxide sequestration that involves spreading crushed silicate minerals on soils to drive chemical reactions that form carbonate minerals: Essentially, the idea ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 22, 2025
0
134
Amidst the growing challenges of global climate change, gaining a deeper understanding of soil carbon sequestration mechanisms is essential for improving the carbon sink function and stability of terrestrial ecosystems.
Earth Sciences
Apr 21, 2025
0
27
