The Carbon Cycle

Abstract

The Carbon Cycle, T.M.L. Wigley and D.S. Schimel (Editors), 2000, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 292 p. (Hardcover $64.95) ISBN: 0-521-58337-3. Carbon dioxide is one of the most potent greenhouse gases that have been released in increasing amounts by human activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. An exponential rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the same period has been attributed to industrial activity. A number of international scientific programs have been developed in order to address two crucial topics regarding the possible influence of this rise on global climate. These topics include (1) the extent to which anthropogenic perturbations influence biogeochemical cycles and (2) the sensitivity of Earth's climate to variations in atmospheric CO2. Elucidation of these issues requires understanding of the mechanisms that control interaction among carbon reservoirs, regulate atmospheric CO2, and dictate the influence of the carbon cycle on other biogeochemical cycles (Falkowski et al., 2000). Annual meetings of the Global Change Institute (GCI) provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary communication among scientists to address these topics. The present volume is a compilation of papers contributed by the participants of the sixth annual Global Change Institute (GCI), which was held in 1993 in Snowmass, Colorado. The book is divided into three main sections that cover the missing carbon sink, past records of CO2 levels, and modeling strategies. The volume is introduced by two excerpts from the 1994 and 1995 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, which cover a brief description of the carbon cycle, past records of atmospheric CO2, the anthropogenic carbon budget, the influence of climate and other feedbacks on the carbon cycle, as well as modeling of future concentrations of atmospheric CO2. The first part of the book deals …