A report on Carbon dioxide, Ocean acidification, Fossil fuel and Carbon cycle

Estimated change in seawater pH caused by human-created carbon dioxide between the 1700s and the 1990s, from the Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) and the World Ocean Atlas

Since oil fields are located only at certain places on earth, only some countries are oil-independent; the other countries depend on the oil-production capacities of these countries

Fast carbon cycle showing the movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans in billions of tons (gigatons) per year. Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, red are human contributions, white are stored carbon. The effects of the slow carbon cycle, such as volcanic and tectonic activity are not included.

Stretching and bending oscillations of the CO2 carbon dioxide molecule. Upper left: symmetric stretching. Upper right: antisymmetric stretching. Lower line: degenerate pair of bending modes.

Here is a detailed image of the full carbon cycle

A petrochemical refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland, UK

Detail of anthropogenic carbon flows, showing cumulative mass in gigatons during years 1850-2018 (left) and the annual mass average during 2009-2018 (right).

Pellets of "dry ice", a common form of solid carbon dioxide

NOAA provides evidence for the upwelling of "acidified" water onto the Continental Shelf. In the figure above, note the vertical sections of (A) temperature, (B) aragonite saturation, (C) pH, (D) DIC, and (E) p on transect line 5 off Pt. St. George, California. The potential density surfaces are superimposed on the temperature section. The 26.2 potential density surface delineates the location of the first instance in which the undersaturated water is upwelled from depths of 150 to 200 m onto the shelf and outcropping at the surface near the coast. The red dots represent sample locations.

CO2 concentrations over the last 800,000 years as measured from ice cores (blue/green) and directly (black)

Pressure–temperature phase diagram of carbon dioxide. Note that it is a log-lin chart.

The Global Carbon Project shows how additions to since 1880 have been caused by different sources ramping up one after another.

Amount of carbon stored in Earth's various terrestrial ecosystems, in gigatonnes.

The cycle between the atmosphere and the ocean

Global surface temperature reconstruction over the last 2000 years using proxy data from tree rings, corals, and ice cores in blue. Directly observational data is in red, with all data showing a 5 year moving average.

A portable soil respiration system measuring soil CO2 flux.

Dry ice used to preserve grapes after harvest

Distribution of (A) aragonite and (B) calcite saturation depth in the global oceans

In 2020, renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union's main source of electricity for the first time.

Diagram showing relative sizes (in gigatonnes) of the main storage pools of carbon on Earth. Cumulative changes (thru year 2014) from land use and emissions of fossil carbon are included for comparison.

This map shows changes in the aragonite saturation level of ocean surface waters between the 1880s and the most recent decade (2006–2015). Aragonite is a form of calcium carbonate that many marine animals use to build their skeletons and shells. The lower the saturation level, the more difficult it is for organisms to build and maintain their skeletons and shells. A negative change represents a decrease in saturation.

Comparison of the pressure–temperature phase diagrams of carbon dioxide (red) and water (blue) as a log-lin chart with phase transitions points at 1 atmosphere

Here is detailed diagram of the carbon cycle within the ocean

Bjerrum plot: Change in carbonate system of seawater from ocean acidification.

Keeling curve of the atmospheric CO2 concentration

Shells of pteropods dissolve in increasingly acidic conditions caused by increased amounts of atmospheric

Atmospheric CO2 annual growth rose 300% since the 1960s.

A normally-protective shell made thin, fragile and transparent by acidification

Annual flows from anthropogenic sources (left) into Earth's atmosphere, land, and ocean sinks (right) since the 1960s. Units in equivalent gigatonnes carbon per year.

Drivers of hypoxia and ocean acidification intensification in upwelling shelf systems. Equatorward winds drive the upwelling of low dissolved oxygen (DO), high nutrient, and high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) water from above the oxygen minimum zone. Cross-shelf gradients in productivity and bottom water residence times drive the strength of DO (DIC) decrease (increase) as water transits across a productive continental shelf.

Carbon is tetrahedrally bonded to oxygen

Pterapod shell dissolved in seawater adjusted to an ocean chemistry projected for the year 2100.

Demonstrator calling for action against ocean acidification at the People's Climate March (2017).

Knowledge about carbon in the core can be gained by analysing shear wave velocities

Overview of the Calvin cycle and carbon fixation

Ocean acidification: mean seawater pH. Mean seawater pH is shown based on in-situ measurements of pH from the Aloha station.

Schematic representation of the overall perturbation of the global carbon cycle caused by anthropogenic activities, averaged from 2010 to 2019.

Overview of photosynthesis and respiration. Carbon dioxide (at right), together with water, form oxygen and organic compounds (at left) by photosynthesis, which can be respired to water and (CO2).

The pathway by which plastics enter the world's oceans.

Symptoms of carbon dioxide toxicity, by increasing volume percent in air.

Carbon stored on land in vegetation and soils is aggregated into a single stock ct. Ocean mixed layer carbon, cm, is the only explicitly modelled ocean stock of carbon; though to estimate carbon cycle feedbacks the total ocean carbon is also calculated.

Rising levels of CO2 threatened the Apollo 13 astronauts who had to adapt cartridges from the command module to supply the carbon dioxide scrubber in the Lunar Module, which they used as a lifeboat.

"Present day" (1990s) sea surface anthropogenic {{chem|CO|2}}

Epiphytes on electric wires. This kind of plant takes both CO{{sub|2}} and water from the atmosphere for living and growing.

CO2 concentration meter using a nondispersive infrared sensor

Vertical inventory of "present day" (1990s) anthropogenic {{chem|CO|2}}

CO{{sub|2}} in Earth's atmosphere if half of global-warming emissions are not absorbed.<ref name="NASA-20151112-ab" /><ref name="NASA-20151112b" /><ref name="NYT-20151110" /><ref name="AP-20151109" /> (NASA computer simulation).

Change in surface {{chem|CO|3|2-}} ion from the 1700s to the 1990s

A NOAA (AOML) in situ {{chem|CO|2}} concentration sensor (SAMI-CO2), attached to a Coral Reef Early Warning System station, utilized in conducting ocean acidification studies near coral reef areas

Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH value of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

- Ocean acidification

The main cause of ocean acidification is human burning of fossil fuels.

- Ocean acidification

Burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of these increased CO2 concentrations and also the primary cause of global warming and climate change.

- Carbon dioxide

When carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid (H2CO3), which causes ocean acidification as atmospheric CO2 levels increase.

- Carbon dioxide

As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth.

- Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had increased nearly 52% over pre-industrial levels by 2020, forcing greater atmospheric and Earth surface heating by the Sun.

- Carbon cycle

The increased carbon dioxide has also increased the acidity of the ocean surface by about 30% due to dissolved carbon dioxide, carbonic acid and other compounds, and is fundamentally altering marine chemistry.

- Carbon cycle

Over 80% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by human activity comes from burning them: around 35 billion tonnes a year, compared to 4 billion from land development.

- Fossil fuel

Natural processes on Earth, mostly absorption by the ocean, can only remove a small part of this.

- Fossil fuel

Although methane leaks are significant, the burning of fossil fuels is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming and ocean acidification.

- Fossil fuel

Ocean acidification has occurred previously in Earth's history, and the resulting ecological collapse in the oceans had long-lasting effects on global carbon cycling and climate.

- Ocean acidification

The sediments, including fossil fuels, freshwater systems, and non-living organic material.

- Carbon cycle

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Average surface air temperatures from 2011 to 2021 compared to the 1956–1976 average

Climate change

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Contemporary climate change includes both global warming and its impacts on Earth's weather patterns.

Change in average surface air temperature since the industrial revolution, plus drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability.

Drivers of climate change from 1850–1900 to 2010–2019. There was no significant contribution from internal variability or solar and volcanic drivers.

concentrations over the last 800,000 years as measured from ice cores (blue/green) and directly (black)

The rate of global tree cover loss has approximately doubled since 2001, to an annual loss approaching an area the size of Italy.

Sea ice reflects 50% to 70% of incoming solar radiation while the dark ocean surface only reflects 6%, so melting sea ice is a self-reinforcing feedback.

Projected global surface temperature changes relative to 1850–1900, based on CMIP6 multi-model mean changes.

The sixth IPCC Assessment Report projects changes in average soil moisture that can disrupt agriculture and ecosystems. A reduction in soil moisture by one standard deviation means that average soil moisture will approximately match the ninth driest year between 1850 and 1900 at that location.

Historical sea level reconstruction and projections up to 2100 published in 2017 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (2021) projects that extreme weather will be progressively more common as the Earth warms.

Scenarios of global greenhouse gas emissions. If all countries achieve their current Paris Agreement pledges, average warming by 2100 would still significantly exceed the maximum 2 °C target set by the Agreement.

Coal, oil, and natural gas remain the primary global energy sources even as renewables have begun rapidly increasing.

Economic sectors with more greenhouse gas contributions have a greater stake in climate change policies.

Most emissions have been absorbed by carbon sinks, including plant growth, soil uptake, and ocean uptake (2020 Global Carbon Budget).

Since 2000, rising emissions in China and the rest of world have surpassed the output of the United States and Europe.

Per person, the United States generates at a far faster rate than other primary regions.

Academic studies of scientific consensus reflect that the level of consensus correlates with expertise in climate science.

Data has been cherry picked from short periods to falsely assert that global temperatures are not rising. Blue trendlines show short periods that mask longer-term warming trends (red trendlines). Blue dots show the so-called global warming hiatus.

The 2017 People's Climate March took place in hundreds of locations. Shown: the Washington, D.C. march, protesting policies of then-U.S. President Trump.

Tyndall's ratio spectrophotometer (drawing from 1861) measured how much infrared radiation was absorbed and emitted by various gases filling its central tube.

alt=Underwater photograph of branching coral that is bleached white|Ecological collapse. Bleaching has damaged the Great Barrier Reef and threatens reefs worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/coral-reef-risk-outlook/|title=Coral Reef Risk Outlook|access-date=4 April 2020|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|quote=At present, local human activities, coupled with past thermal stress, threaten an estimated 75 percent of the world's reefs. By 2030, estimates predict more than 90% of the world's reefs will be threatened by local human activities, warming, and acidification, with nearly 60% facing high, very high, or critical threat levels.}}</ref>

alt=Photograph of evening in a valley settlement. The skyline in the hills beyond is lit up red from the fires.|Extreme weather. Drought and high temperatures worsened the 2020 bushfires in Australia.<ref>{{harvnb|Carbon Brief, 7 January|2020}}.</ref>

alt=The green landscape is interrupted by a huge muddy scar where the ground has subsided.|Arctic warming. Permafrost thaws undermine infrastructure and release methane, a greenhouse gas.

alt=An emaciated polar bear stands atop the remains of a melting ice floe.|Habitat destruction. Many arctic animals rely on sea ice, which has been disappearing in a warming Arctic.<ref>{{harvnb|IPCC AR5 WG2 Ch28|2014|p=1596|ps=: "Within 50 to 70 years, loss of hunting habitats may lead to elimination of polar bears from seasonally ice-covered areas, where two-thirds of their world population currently live."}}</ref>

alt=Photograph of a large area of forest. The green trees are interspersed with large patches of damaged or dead trees turning purple-brown and light red.|Pest propagation. Mild winters allow more pine beetles to survive to kill large swaths of forest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/climatechange.htm|title=What a changing climate means for Rocky Mountain National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref>

Environmental migration. Sparser rainfall leads to desertification that harms agriculture and can displace populations. Shown: Telly, Mali (2008).<ref>{{harvnb|Serdeczny|Adams|Baarsch|Coumou|2016}}.</ref>

Agricultural changes. Droughts, rising temperatures, and extreme weather negatively impact agriculture. Shown: Texas, US (2013).<ref>{{harvnb|IPCC SRCCL Ch5|2019|pp=439, 464}}.</ref>

Tidal flooding. Sea-level rise increases flooding in low-lying coastal regions. Shown: Venice, Italy (2004).<ref name="NOAAnuisance">{{cite web|url=http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nuisance-flooding.html |title=What is nuisance flooding? |author=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref>

Storm intensification. Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr (2007) is an example of catastrophic flooding from increased rainfall.<ref>{{harvnb|Kabir|Khan|Ball|Caldwell|2016}}.</ref>

Heat wave intensification. Events like the June 2019 European heat wave are becoming more common.<ref>{{harvnb|Van Oldenborgh|Philip|Kew|Vautard|2019}}.</ref>

Instead, they are caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide and methane.

Burning fossil fuels for energy production creates most of these emissions.

These include sea level rise, and warmer, more acidic oceans.

Afterwards, the ocean's overturning circulation distributes it deep into the ocean's interior, where it accumulates over time as part of the carbon cycle.