Carbon respiration (also called

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

and carbon releases) is used in combination with

carbon fixation Biological carbon fixation or сarbon assimilation is the process by which inorganic carbon (particularly in the form of carbon dioxide) is converted to organic compounds by living organisms. The compounds are then used to store energy and as ...

to gauge

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

flux (as CO₂) between

atmospheric carbon An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

and the global

carbon cycle The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as ...

Basic process

Carbon is released to the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, organic respiration, wood burning, and volcanic eruptions. The uptake of carbon from the atmosphere occurs through carbon dissolution into the oceans,

Photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...

, and the consequent storing of carbon in various forms such as

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

accumulation, and formation of

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

s such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

. It also happens when carbohydrates are changed into carbon dioxide.

Carbon flux ratio

The calculation of the annual net difference between carbon release and carbon storage constitutes the annual global atmospheric carbon accumulation rate. Using this method, the annual

carbon flux The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component ...

ratio has been calculated to be approaching zero. This means the carbon respiration rate and carbon storage rate are in balance when generating a global estimate of this figure.{{cite web , url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/gg97rpt/chap7.html , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980211051628/http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/gg97rpt/chap7.html , url-status=dead , archive-date=1998-02-11 , title=Land Use Issues , accessdate=2006-09-09 Annual net carbon flux has been grossly calculated to be close to zero, implying the carbon release and carbon fixation rates are roughly in balance worldwide. This finding is contradicted by measuring the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, an important indication that the balance is tipped toward emissions. Using this data, atmospheric concentrations appear to have increased rapidly over the past 100 years and are currently higher than ever in human history, suggesting that more carbon is being released than can be absorbed on earth.

References

Atmosphere

Respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellula ...