Because they are far less plentiful than plants and microbes, animals have typically been excluded from examinations of carbon exchange in the atmosphere. But new research shows they may have a considerable influence on carbon cycle dynamics.
carbon
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Coming to a Consensus on Carbon
A new study describes inconsistencies in how different Earth system models predict soil carbon levels in a warming climate.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Source or Sink? A Review of Permafrost’s Role in the Carbon Cycle
Understanding the role of permanently frozen soil, which covers a large portion of land in the Northern Hemisphere, is crucial to reaching global climate targets.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Our Breathing Earth: A Review of Soil Respiration Science
A new synopsis details how the past 20 years have changed our understanding of soil respiration and revealed its critical effects on the climate system.
Posted inNews
Los microplásticos son el ingrediente no tan secreto de la nieve marina
Partículas diminutas de plástico degradadas y cubiertas por biopelículas se hunden hasta el fondo marino llevando consigo carbono.
Posted inNews
Bottom Trawling Shreds the Seafloor. It May Also Be a Huge Source of Carbon Emissions.
Dragging nets along the ocean bed wrecks marine life, but researchers can’t agree on how bad it is for the climate.
Posted inNews
Looking for Climate Clues in China’s Great Wall
Looking for Climate Clues in China’s Great Wall
In northwestern China, desert conditions have preserved the farthest reaches of the Great Wall. Scientists are now exploring 2,000-year-old building materials for signs of the region’s past climate.
Posted inNews
Microplastics Are the Not-So-Secret Ingredient in Marine Snow
Particles of tiny, degraded plastics coated with biofilms sink to the seafloor, carrying carbon with them.
Posted inScience Updates
Ecosystem Observations from Every Angle
Proximal remote sensing provides a bridge between ecosystem flux data at Earth’s surface and optical data from satellite sensors, improving our grasp of feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and climate.
Posted inOpinions
A Transformative Carbon Sink in the Ocean?
Water-rock reactions in some hydrothermal systems produce both hydrogen, which could be tapped for clean energy, and alkaline solutions that could help draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide.