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Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Climate

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Climate and Geo-Sciences

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 285))

Abstract

This paper highlights some important questions and problems involving greenhouse gas global cycles and climate response. Simplified biogeochemical cycles of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O, and of the atmospheric compounds of sulfur are presented with particular emphasis on exchange fluxes involving Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, where possible long-term natural fluxes are compared to gas fluxes resulting from human activities. It is demonstrated that the geological cycling behavior of these gases has been perturbed significantly by anthropogenic fluxes.

The inability of the atmosphere and other sinks to react rapidly enough to cope with increasing fluxes from societal activities has led to continuous change in the greenhouse gas composition of the atmosphere, This change in composition may lead to future climate change, including changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. The coastal and nearshore oceanic realm is particularly sensitive to material fluxes from societal activities, and its role in the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and Earth’s surface is poorly known.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Oceanography, University of Brussels, CP 208, 1050, Campus Plaine, Brussels, Belgium

    R. Wollast

  2. Department of Oceanography and Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    F. T. Mackenzie

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  1. R. Wollast
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  2. F. T. Mackenzie
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut d’Astronomie et de Géophysique Georges Lemaître, Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    A. Berger

  2. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    S. Schneider

  3. Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, Laboratoire Mixte CNRS-CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    J. Cl. Duplessy

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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Wollast, R., Mackenzie, F.T. (1989). Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Climate. In: Berger, A., Schneider, S., Duplessy, J.C. (eds) Climate and Geo-Sciences. NATO ASI Series, vol 285. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2446-8_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2446-8_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-0412-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2446-8

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