Climate Trivia: Ocean vs. Atmosphere Carbon Stocks
Carbon is a critical element in the Earth system. Carbon molecules are constantly moving from different states and from reservoir to reservoir. One reservoir is the terrestrial biosphere (the life systems that exist on land), which holds carbon primarily in the form of plant matter and soil. The atmosphere holds carbon in the form of carbon-dioxide gas (CO2) and methane. The oceans also hold carbon, primarily in the form of dissolved CO2 and calcium carbonate. The amount of reactive carbon – carbon in forms that can readily change its chemical state and move from one reservoir to another – in each of these reservoirs is markedly different. The ocean is by far the largest of these three carbon reservoirs.
Trivia Question: The ocean’s carbon reservoir is about how many times the size of the atmosphere’s carbon reservoir?
a. Two times
b. Ten times
c. 25 times
d. More than 60 times
The correct answer is d. The oceans hold more than 60 times the amount of reactive carbon that the atmosphere does.
(Source: Riebesell, U et al. “Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 49 (2009): 20602-20609)