The Global Carbon Cycle: A Test of Our Knowledge of Earth as a System

Abstract

Motivated by the rapid increase in atmospheric CO 2 due to human activities since the Industrial Revolution, several international scientific research programs have analyzed the role of individual components of the Earth system in the global carbon cycle. Our knowledge of the carbon cycle within the oceans, terrestrial ecosystems, and the atmosphere is sufficiently extensive to permit us to conclude that although natural processes can potentially slow the rate of increase in atmospheric CO 2 , there is no natural “savior” waiting to assimilate all the anthropogenically produced CO 2 in the coming century. Our knowledge is insufficient to describe the interactions between the components of the Earth system and the relationship between the carbon cycle and other biogeochemical and climatological processes. Overcoming this limitation requires a systems approach.

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Affiliated Institutions

• ACT Government
• Arizona State University US
• University of New Hampshire US
• University of California, Los Angeles US
• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SE
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ZA
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology US
• Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences SE
• Planetary Science Institute US
• University of British Columbia CA
• Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung DE
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey US
• University of Hawaii System US
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation AU

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