Reply #7: Ignorant RW claptrap

[jpak]

Each year marine and terrestrial respiration releases ~120 Pg (10^15 grams) of carbon to the atmosphere...

and each year marine and terrestrial photosynthesis removes ~120 Pg of carbon from the atmosphere.

On an annual basis, these processes are closely balanced and result in little net increase or decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

Each year volcanic activity releases ~0.1 Pg of carbon (as CO2)...

...which is balanced by the burial of carbon in marine sediments (~0.1 Pg C per year).

Large volcanic eruptions are an insignificant source of CO2.

CO2 concentrations are increasing because human activities release ~7 pG of CO2 to the atmosphere each year. Half of this remains in the atmosphere, the rest is sequestered in the ocean or terrestrial environment.

Source: W.H. Schlesinger (1997) Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, 2nd ed., Academic Press.