How does carbon get into the atmosphere?
Atmospheric carbon dioxide comes from two primary sources—natural and human activities. Natural sources of carbon dioxide include most animals, which exhale carbon dioxide as a waste product. Human activities that lead to carbon dioxide emissions come primarily from energy production, including burning coal, oil, or natural gas.
Learn more: Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (EPA)
Related Content
How much carbon dioxide does the United States and the World emit each year from energy sources?
Has the USGS made any Biologic Carbon Sequestration assessments?
Which area is the best for geologic carbon sequestration?
What’s the difference between geologic and biologic carbon sequestration?
How much carbon dioxide can the United States store via geologic sequestration?
What is carbon sequestration?
Ancient Permafrost Quickly Transforms to Carbon Dioxide upon Thaw
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and key academic partners have quantified how rapidly ancient permafrost decomposes upon thawing and how much carbon dioxide is produced in the process.
Amazon Carbon Dynamics: Understanding the Photosynthesis-Climate Link
What controls the response of photosynthesis in Amazon tropical forests to seasonal variations in climate?
Climate Projections Underestimate CO2 Impact
The climate may be 30–50 percent more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide in the long term than previously thought, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience yesterday.
Projections over the next hundreds of years of climate conditions, including global temperatures, may need to be adjusted to reflect this higher sensitivity.
"Carbon farm" project will study ways to capture atmospheric CO2
Imagine a new kind of farming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta - "carbon-capture" farming, which traps atmospheric carbon dioxide and rebuilds lost soils.
"Carbon farm" project will study ways to capture atmospheric CO2
Imagine a new kind of farming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta - "carbon-capture" farming, which traps atmospheric carbon dioxide and rebuilds lost soils.
Climate Change May Affect the Carbon Balance of a Rocky Mountain Wetland
BOSTON--The carbon balance of wetlands in the southern Rocky Mountains may be very sensitive to small changes in local climate, according to recent research conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey.
How Does Carbon Get Into the Atmosphere?
A short video on how carbon can get into the atmosphere.
A valley with smog pollution from Carbon Sequestration.
Uncovering the Ecosystem Service Value of Carbon Sequestration in National Parks. Photo by Robert Crootof, NPS.
Orthoimage, traffic interchange, LA CA
Orthoimage of a four-way interchange, Los Angeles, CA
PubTalk 1/2011 — Capture and Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
Is Sequestration Necessary? Can We Do It at an Acceptable Total Cost?
By Yousif Kharaka, USGS National Research Program
- Combustion of fossil fuels currently releases approximately 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere annually
- Increased anthropogenic emissions have dramatically raised
Studying Old Organic Carbon in the Yukon River
Melt water stream discharging from Gulkana Glacier, Alaska.
USGS research of the Yukon River has had a long term goal of determining the source and fate of organic carbon transported by the river to the Bering Sea and ultimately the Arctic Ocean.
Results of recent analyses identified old carbonin the Yukon River, but also indicated that the chemical source
...Public Lecture Sneak Peek: Soils, Carbon, and the Global exCHANGE
- Studying Arctic Changes during the International Polar Year
- Why soils aren't just for growing crops
- What does carbon have to do with global weather and climate?
- Balancing tradeoffs between the carbon cycle, econoic concerns, and the environment
- Making choices-- from household decisions to national policies
Speaker:
Davis Rd. Carbon Dioxide Vent
Davis Rd. carbon dioxide vent, Salton Sea, California.
Carbon emissions associated with land change for the Sierra Nevadas
For the A1B-LUD scenario, cumulative emissions associated with land use, land use change, and disturbance (left) and projected land use, land cover, and disturbance area (right).
Wetlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle
Wetlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle