Forest carbon is emitted slowly through the decay of dead biomass or rapidly through combustion during wildfires. Currently, about 6.3 gigatons of carbon are released into the atmosphere as a result of fossil fuel burning. It may be surprising, but forests in the United States store nearly 30 percent of the carbon in America's coal, oil, and natural gas reserves.Įmissions: Carbon emissions into the atmosphere are dominated by fossil fuel combustion for electricity and transportation. Let’s begin our examination of the carbon cycle by focusing on emissions of CO2. Carbon is a crucial element that shapes our today’s environment and has a crucial role to play in the formation of the body of a living creature whether it be animal or plant.

Fossil fuel reserves are storing carbon removed from the atmosphere by plants millions of years ago. The carbon cycle (or, more properly, cycles) on Earth is a complex interaction among three reservoirs: the atmosphere the hydrosphere and the lithosphere. Carbon cycle can be defined as the process where carbon compounds are interchanged among the biosphere, geosphere, pedosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the earth. Over time, this carbon is transferred to forest products, dead wood, and soils. Collectively, all of the major pools and fluxes of carbon on Earth comprise what we refer to as the global carbon cycle.

Stocks: Forest carbon is stored in live trees, understory vegetation, and roots. Changing rates of wildfire and land conversion could put this valuable benefit at risk. Forest carbon emissions in the United States are small compared to sequestration rates so forests are net accumulators of carbon. Sequestration: Carbon is removed from the atmosphere (sequestered) by forest ecosystems through photosynthesis, the process where living plants convert light into stored sugars from carbon dioxide and water. May alter drought and fire frequency, and forestĬonversion to other land uses may reduce the amount Thisĭynamic is expected to continue, but climate change Percent of annual fossil fuel carbon emissions. US, this net sequestration offsets approximately 15 Annual forest sequestration currently exceedsĮmissions from decay and fire combined. Known as sequestering) it as trees grow and returningĬarbon dioxide to the atmosphere as they decay orīurn. FOREST CARBON STOCKS AND FLUXES WITH THE ATMOSPHERE.ĭioxide in the atmosphere, removing (otherwise Because Carbon is so important to live on earth, the soils play an important role in the global carbon cycle.