Human Activity Outpaces Volcanoes, Asteroids in Releasing Deep Carbon

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https://eos.org/articles/human-activity-outpaces-volcanoes-asteroids-in-releasing-deep-carbon

Source:  By Kimberly M. S. Cartier, Eos/AGU.

Excerpt: Of the 1.85 billion billion metric tons of carbon that exist on Earth, 99.8% exists belowground, according to new reports on deep carbon. The research estimates that human activity annually releases into the atmosphere around 40 to 100 times as much carbon dioxide as does all volcanic activity. That’s also a slightly higher rate of carbon emission than Earth experienced just after the asteroid impact that likely killed the dinosaurs, the researchers found. ...The new reports summarize 10 years of field data collection, lab experiments, and computer modeling of the origin of Earth’s carbon, how it circulates throughout the Earth system, and extreme events that can upset Earth’s carbon balance....

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