In
the interests of �
In
the interests of “seeing the forest”, concerning the carbon
cycle, it is instructive to me to see why our current sources of
“convenient” energy supplies will/should run out, in the next few
decades (Wikipedia: carbon cycle). In recent, head-long dashes to
embrace bio-fuels, for example, we have stumbled against unforeseen
inefficiency and political ramifications that need time for
resolution. By using basic arithmetic, it is fairly easy to focus in
on where research should concentrate. Deep-sea inorganic carbon
storage appears to be the overwhelming “elephant” in the front
room. Deep-sea precipitations of iron from soluble to insoluble
form, appear to have occurred repeatedly within the past three
billion years and account for the iron deposits on the Keewenaw
peninsula between Lakes Superior and Michigan.
(http://www.iapetusbeat.com/2009/11/banded-iron-formation-near-timmons-in.html)
Aerial
iron fillings “drops” over the Antarctic seas, near the Crozet
Islands seem to address the structural “bottleneck” necessary to
drive phytoplankton photosynthesis, appear to offer promise of
generating primary productivity “techno-fixes”, perhaps to
help-out starving whales. There may be a way to precipitate deep-sea,
inorganic carbon, though this is doubtful, given present oceanic
acidification by atmospheric inputs – I would definitely want
marine geo-chemists to weigh in here!
(http://ocean.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD5.3/sassen.html).
Likewise,
in our quest to understand/modify short-term carbon fluxes, there
will be unforeseen practical and political ramifications. I, for
one, like the idea of private industry (provided there is oversight
by a union of concerned/responsible scientists) using science to make
a profit, while addressing vital, environmental concerns.
On
land, too, there are organic and inorganic “sinks” for carbon. I
draw attention to organic peat accumulations, essentially the
consequence of taiga vegetation producing peat during the past
300,000 years during the “Ice Ages”. In the face of a warming
world, soil micro-organisms will tend to metabolise such organic
matter into humus, so long as pronounced, seasonal-drying doesn't
take place first. Increased accumulations of quantities of organic
matter in the soil, benefit agriculture and are pathways for storing
carbon. Generally, increasing precipitation tends to be
correlated with global warming, but droughts will occur.
The
“between fire interval”, characterizing catastrophic “burns”
in the northern hemisphere, has shortened during the past 100 years
by 35 years.
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/km6258lm136p1362/).
I
have read that there is considerable cause to worry about enormous
volumes of potential future carbon-dioxide and methane releases from
such peat, possibly by wildland fires. Fire is a stochastic
phenomena which tends to progress according to the dictates of the
fire triangle – if there is fuel to be burned with sufficient
oxygen and a favorable ignition threshold, ie, lightning or an
explosion – it will progress until there is no longer any fuel, a
lessening/absence of oxygen occurs or the threshold temperature drops
below the critical level.
Lately,
during summer, we have become aware of more frequent, devastating
fires all over the world and the tendency for these fires to get "out
of hand”, indeed, many times, to such an extent that it is only the
return of the rainy season that effectively ends such episodes.
Diurnal
and seasonal effects tend to produce snowstorms, tornados, hurricanes
and droughts (which can lead to fires) –- certainly “capture the
moment” and give us something to talk about, but it is the
slower-evolving phenomena like oceanic circulation, sunspot cycles
and climates that tend to persist, which permit stability for the
formation of soils and the formation of life-zone biomes.
However,
I would offer that with even slightly hotter summers, there remains
the possibility for the ignition of catastrophic fires and attendant
huge releases of carbon. Even today, there are long-term,
smoldering fires in mines and tailing deposits and the fact that peat
fires can burn underground in Alaska and Siberia for years.
The
idea of binding carbon by inorganic pathways into carbonate rock,
coral reefs and phytolith-generation by grasses during C4
photosynthesis for residence in the soil profile, appear to be
practical routes to sequester carbon, provided the appropriate
modeling has been done, and that the means consume relatively small
amounts of fossil fuels, if any.
I would like to add that
politically, in keeping with the idea of a “carbon tax”, perhaps
in current military campaigns in central Asia and drug campaigns in
Central/South America, there seems to be a tendency to engage in
greater cultural understanding to provide a more enduring peace,
which may possibly include funding to replace income generated from
coca and poppy cultivation to soil fertility enhancement, cultural
integrity, and “environmental services” ends.
Thomas W
Hardy
Clarkston, Washington
