{"iconType":"icon","icon":"plus","color":"#981d99","hotspots":[{"position":{"x":1.6,"y":9.209437086092716},"alwaysFullscreen":false,"content":[{"params":{"text":"

Each tiny ball represents 1 Gt Carbon, which equals 1 trillion kg Carbon, or 1 billion (1,000,000,000) tonnes Carbon. This is a difficult number to imagine! Here are some other ways to imagine the mass of each ball in this figure (Energy Education<\/a>, 2023).
\n1 Gt = two times the mass of all humans on earth<\/p>\n\n

1 Gt = 2 million International Space Stations<\/p>\n\n

1 Gt = the mass of all land mammals (other than humans). See the XKCD comic<\/a> below to visualize.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.Text 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"ad97dbb0-f737-445a-b6cb-3788d2d498cf"},{"params":{"decorative":false,"contentName":"Image","file":{"path":"images\/file-64591e6a818fb.png","mime":"image\/png","copyright":{"license":"U"},"width":1238,"height":990},"alt":"The mass of all land mammals not including humans is 1 Gt of Carbon. Source https:\/\/xkcd.com\/1338\/","title":"1 Gt = 2x mass of all humans (dark gray) or 1x all other land mammals (light gray and green)"},"library":"H5P.Image 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Image","license":"U","title":"Untitled Image"},"subContentId":"2ed83c0c-d44f-4bf7-bab2-eb48832cdd95"}],"header":"1 ball = 1 Gt C"},{"position":{"x":2,"y":35.006208609271525},"alwaysFullscreen":false,"content":[{"params":{"text":"

The carbon reservoirs or sinks are shown as larger rectangles (made up of the smaller balls), and are labelled in black text. Note that the scale of these reservoirs is not all the same. For example, the Ocean life and dissolved organics and Rock in Earth's crust are far larger than they appear (the balls are so small they cannot even be distinguished in the rock cycle). The numbers in black give us an idea just how big these stores of carbon really are.<\/p>\n\n

In this purple section, the oceanic carbon reservoirs include<\/p>\n\n

\n\t

Ocean life and dissolved organics<\/li>\n\t

Near surface dissolved carbon dioxide<\/li>\n\t

Intermediate and deep ocean.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

In blue is the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n

In green is the biosphere (all living and dead organic material).<\/p>\n\n

In beige is the Rock in Earth's Crust. <\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.Text 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"e66ed966-c44e-4cb5-9d78-0599151513b9"}],"header":"Carbon reservoirs or sinks"},{"position":{"x":74,"y":26.87293046357616},"alwaysFullscreen":false,"content":[{"params":{"text":"

The carbon does not just stay in each reservoir (after all, we are talking about the carbon cycle<\/strong><\/em>). Processes that move carbon are labelled in red. You should recognize some processes like photosynthesis and respiration that move carbon between the atmosphere and the biosphere, and back again. What are other processes that you recognize?
\nWhich reservoirs experience rapid change over? Which reservoirs experience change but are relatively untouched by carbon flow?
\nThe flows of carbon by these processes are also measured in GtC \/ year.
\nSome processes are fast, others, like sedimentation, are very slow.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.Text 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"81001a83-048a-4c72-9016-d6d0962ac8b1"}],"header":"Processes that move carbon"},{"position":{"x":58.8,"y":62.45860927152318},"alwaysFullscreen":false,"content":[{"params":{"text":"

The red balls indicate GtC stored in fossil fuel deposits and released into the atmosphere by human activities. These red balls are not represented in the pre-industrial section of the video, because they were not an active part of the carbon cycle. <\/p>\n\n

While you watch the video, notice where these GtC end up, and the rate at which they are added to the other reservoirs. Just like the black balls, each red ball is a Gt of Carbon, or a billion tonnes.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.Text 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"f78cdabf-64c9-43d9-aaff-3ce16d6ed394"}],"header":"Fossil fuel use and industry"},{"position":{"x":87.2,"y":4.646109271523178},"alwaysFullscreen":false,"content":[{"params":{"text":"

Keep an eye on the year.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.Text 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"95ca1b0f-07a3-47d0-91e7-7566c284637c"}],"header":"Year"}],"hotspotNumberLabel":"Hotspot #num","closeButtonLabel":"Close","backgroundImageAltText":"Still image shows the reservoirs of carbon and the processes moving carbon throughout Earth's spheres","image":{"path":"images\/image-64591d95c070a.png","mime":"image\/png","copyright":{"license":"U"},"width":3024,"height":1760}}

The Earth's Carbon Cycle

Beth Hundey