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.
It is well documented that the Gulf Stream plays a pivotal role in the climate system through its transfer of heat, which ultimately supplies warmth to northern latitudes in the North Atlantic. What remains less well understood ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 12, 2026
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A new study reports that climate warming can increase soil carbon accumulation in boreal Sphagnum peatlands by boosting plant productivity, protecting iron, and inhibiting microbial decomposition. These responses contrast ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 11, 2026
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35
Deep soils found in forests may be less effective at storing carbon in the long term than previously assumed, potentially reducing the net climate benefits of tree planting, a University of Stirling professor has warned. ...
Ecology
Feb 10, 2026
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83
The boreal forest—the world's largest terrestrial biome—is warming faster than any other forest type. To understand the changing dynamics of boreal forests, Min Feng and colleagues analyzed the biome from 1985 to 2020, leveraging ...
Environment
Feb 9, 2026
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1038
A team of ocean and climate researchers is calling for a new generation of carefully designed ocean iron fertilization (OIF) field trials to determine whether this marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) method can safely and ...
Environment
Feb 5, 2026
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25
Groundwater is considered the largest reservoir of liquid freshwater on Earth and a habitat for complex microbial communities that drive essential biogeochemical cycles. Until now, the role of viruses that infect microorganisms ...
Ecology
Feb 4, 2026
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90
Removing sheep and other livestock entirely from upland grasslands—a strategy often promoted as a way to boost carbon storage and tackle climate change—may actually reduce the most stable forms of soil carbon, according to ...
Ecology
Feb 2, 2026
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198
Deep beneath the Earth's surface, in the pores and crevices of rock, live huge communities of microorganisms. They are invisible to the naked eye—yet they play a central role in the quality of our groundwater and in global ...
Ecology
Feb 2, 2026
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13
Earth's ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to temper the impact of climate change but increasing ocean acidity. However, calcium carbonate minerals found in the seabed act as a natural antacid: Higher ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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45
Agricultural waste that is usually burned or left to rot could play a far bigger role in tackling climate change if it were instead used in long-lasting building materials, according to new research from the University of ...
Environment
Jan 31, 2026
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