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Topic 26 - Climate change and the global carbon cycle: drivers affecting biological change
Essential elements from Topic 26:
“The climate is changing”. We hear it the news every day. And, yes, climate changes will undoubtedly play a major role in your economics, life style, and the activities of plants and ecosystems that surround you for many generations to come. We understand that climate has changed over the history of Earth. Yet the temperature-related changes in our climate appear to exceed the rates of change from previous climate changes. As our societies continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the changes are very likely to accelerate.
In this lecture, we focus at the global scale. We will address such important issues as
Topic 26 - Climate change and the global carbon cycle: drivers affecting biological change
Essential elements from Topic 26:
“The climate is changing”. We hear it the news every day. And, yes, climate changes will undoubtedly play a major role in your economics, life style, and the activities of plants and ecosystems that surround you for many generations to come. We understand that climate has changed over the history of Earth. Yet the temperature-related changes in our climate appear to exceed the rates of change from previous climate changes. As our societies continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the changes are very likely to accelerate.
In this lecture, we focus at the global scale. We will address such important issues as
- Where is all of the increasing atmospheric CO2 coming from?
- Land and ocean plants absorb about 50% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This is effectively a subsidy.
- What is required to “bend the curve” and reduce the atmospheric CO2 growth rate?
- What are the consequences of increasing atmospheric CO2 on climate and plants?