Carbon flux, in the context of biogeochemical topics, denotes the rate at which carbon in its various chemical forms (e.g., CO₂, CH₄, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon, particulate organic carbon) is transferred per unit area and time between reservoirs such as the atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere, oceans, and lithosphere. It encompasses processes including photosynthetic uptake, respiration, decomposition, combustion, weathering, ocean–atmosphere gas exchange, and sedimentation. Quantification of carbon fluxes, typically in units like g C m⁻² yr⁻¹, is central to constraining carbon budgets, modeling the global carbon cycle, and assessing feedbacks in climate system research.
An international study presents the first global assessment of blue carbon accumulated in the living parts of seagrass plants. According to the results, their leaves, rhizomes and roots store up to 40 million tons of carbon ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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64
A collaborative research team has discovered that the Southern Ocean releases substantially more carbon dioxide (CO2) during the dark austral winter than previously thought. Their new study reveals that this winter outgassing ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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72
Thinning, the practice of removing some trees to promote the growth of others, is a common forestry management technique, but its effects on forest carbon dynamics vary greatly depending on the forest type.
Ecology
Nov 5, 2025
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25
A Peking University research team led by Wang Heyuan and Wang Kai at the Institute for Carbon Neutrality (ICN) used AI models to determine that the global land carbon sink has drastically shrunk due to an abrupt and extreme ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 4, 2025
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56
SINKER is an innovative new instrument equipped with advanced microscopes and cameras to collect detailed data about carbon sinking in marine snow.
Earth Sciences
Oct 30, 2025
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A research team led by Academician Jin Zhijun from the Institute of Energy, Peking University, has revealed how interactions between Earth's tectonic activity and astronomical cycles jointly shaped the planet's climate and ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 27, 2025
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46
Peatlands make up just 3% of Earth's land surface but store more than 30% of the world's soil carbon, preserving organic matter and sequestering its carbon for tens of thousands of years. A new study sounds the alarm that ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 23, 2025
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98
Continental shelf seas—the shallow waters surrounding our coasts that provide most of the world's seafood—are absorbing more carbon than they release, with the strength and direction of the prevailing wind proving a key control, ...
Environment
Oct 23, 2025
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20
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) rose faster in 2024 than in any year since records began—far faster than scientists expected.
Environment
Oct 21, 2025
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66
The ocean has helped mitigate global warming by absorbing about a quarter of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, along with more than 90% of the excess heat those emissions generate.
Earth Sciences
Oct 20, 2025
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