8. Terrestrial Carbon#
Over the course of the next four lectures we will discuss the role of the land surface in Earth’s climate system. Although the land surface is not included in your climate model for the lab report, the land plays a critical role in Earth’s climate, both because it stores a lot of carbon (2-3x as much as the surface ocean) and because it is critical for Earth’s heat and moisture balance. The land surface is also critical for the production of trace atmospheric gases, which we learned at the end of Michaelmas term are precursors to aerosol formation. And the land surface is where the vast majority of methane that reaches the atmosphere comes from.
The four lectures are broken down as follows
Lecture 40 – Why do we care about what is on the land? Plants in Earth’s climate system, the formation of soils and soil, vegetation, atmosphere transfer models (SVAT). How these are parameterised using Eddy Covariance techniques.
Lecture 41 – The Methane Cycle: The importance of Methane in Earth’s climate. What are the key sources and sinks of methane and why is it such a target for climate mitigation measures?
Lecture 42 – The Methane Cycle: How are estimates of methane fluxes made and why are different estimates so widely varying? How can we close the gap on the methane budget?
Lecture 43 – Other trace gases produced by soils and the role of soil moisture in amplifying climate change and extreme weather events.