ENV 594a () / 2021-2022

Global Carbon Cycle

Carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, the building block for all of biochemistry, and the energy exchange material for the Earth’s metabolism. Over the past 200 years, people have mined fossil carbon to power the global economy, leading to profound transformations in the cycling of carbon among land, oceans, and atmosphere and disrupting Earth’s climate.

This course explores in detail the cycling of labile carbon among the major biogeochemical reservoirs. We’ll spend roughly 4 weeks each on land, oceans, and atmosphere and finish up by considering carbon-climate feedback and climate sensitivity to cumulative fossil fuel emissions.