nsf.gov - Where Does Charcoal, or Black Carbon, in Soils Go?

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido la información del The National Science Foundation (NSF), donde ellos se preguntan...y se contestan sobre...¿Dónde hace el Carbón vegetal, o Carbón Negro, en Suelos que Van?

Los científicos han destapado uno de los secretos mucho tiempo guardados de la naturaleza - el destino verdadero de carbón vegetal en los suelos.. . La capacidad de determinar el destino de carbón vegetal es crítica al conocimiento del presupuesto global de carbón, que a su turno puede ayudar a entender y mitigar el cambio climático.

Sin embargo, hasta ahora, los investigadores sólo tenían conjeturas científicas sobre lo que pasa al carbón vegetal una vez que es incorporado en el suelo. Ellos lo creyeron se quedó allí. Sorprendentemente, la mayor parte de estos investigadores se equivocaron.

Las conclusiones de un nuevo estudio que examina el resultado de carbón vegetal una vez que es depositado en el suelo son perfiladas en un papel publicado esta semana en el the journal Science . El equipo internacional de investigadores fue conducido por los científicos Rudolf Jaffe de Universidad Internacional de Florida y Thorsten Dittmar de German Max la Sociedad de Planck.

" La mayor parte de científicos pensaron que el carbón vegetal era resistente, " dice Jaffe. " Ellos creyeron que una vez que fue incorporado en suelos, esto se quedó allí. Pero si era el caso, los suelos serían negros. " El carbón vegetal, o el carbón negro, son un residuo generado por la combustión incluyendo regueros de pólvora y la combustión de combustibles fósiles............. leer más

Los invito a leer la versión original en inglés por  The National Science Foundation (NSF).

 

Charred boreal forest after a fire has raged: where does the "charcoal" go?
Credit: Stefan Doerr, Swansea University
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The familiar look of charcoal; some charcoal is generated by wildfires and burning fossil fuels.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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Alaska forest fire near NSF's Bonanza Creek LTER site; fires leave charcoal, or black carbon.
Credit: Stefan Doerr, Swansea University
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At NSF's Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site, charcoal is part of the dissolved organic carbon.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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Charcoal, or black carbon, makes its way through Everglades wetlands and to the sea.
Credit: NSF Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Site
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The researchers' findings are described in the April 19 issue of the journal Science.
Credit: Copyright AAAS 2013
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April 18, 2013

Scientists have uncovered one of nature's long-kept secrets--the true fate of charcoal in the world's soils.

The ability to determine the fate of charcoal is critical to knowledge of the global carbon budget, which in turn can help understand and mitigate climate change.

However, until now, researchers only had scientific guesses about what happens to charcoal once it's incorporated into soil. They believed it stayed there.

Surprisingly, most of these researchers were wrong.

The findings of a new study that examines the result of charcoal once it is deposited into the soil are outlined in a paper published this week in the journal Science.

The international team of researchers was led by scientists Rudolf Jaffe of Florida International University and Thorsten Dittmar of the German Max Planck Society.

"Most scientists thought charcoal was resistant," says Jaffe. "They believed that once it was incorporated into soils, it stayed there. But if that were the case, soils would be black."

Charcoal, or black carbon, is a residue generated by combustion including wildfires and the burning of fossil fuels.

When charcoal forms, it is usually deposited into the soil.

"From a chemical perspective, no one really thought it dissolved, but it does," Jaffe says.

"It doesn't accumulate for a long time. It's exported into wetlands and rivers, eventually making its way to the oceans."

It all started with a strange finding in the Everglades.

At the National Science Foundation (NSF) Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site--one of 26 such NSF LTER sites in ecosystems around the world--Jaffe studied the glades' environmental chemistry.

Dissolved organic carbon is known to be abundant in wetlands such as the Everglades and plays a critical role in the ecology of these systems.

Jaffe wanted to learn more about what comprised the organic carbon in the Everglades.

He and colleagues discovered that as much as 20 percent of the total dissolved organic carbon in the Everglades is charcoal.

Surprised by the finding, the researchers shifted their focus to the origin of the dissolved charcoal.

In an almost serendipitous scientific journey, Dittmar, head of the Max Planck Research Group for Marine Geochemistry at the University Oldenburg in Germany, was also tracing the paths of charcoal, but from an oceanographic perspective.

To map out a more comprehensive picture, the researchers joined forces. Their conclusion is that charcoal in soils is making its way into the world's waters.

"This study affirms the power of large-scale analyses made possible through international collaborations," says Saran Twombly, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research along with NSF's Directorate for Geosciences.

"What started out as a puzzling result from the Florida Everglades engaged scientists at other LTER sites in the U.S., and eventually expanded worldwide," says Twombly. "The result is a major contribution to our understanding of the carbon cycle."

Fire is probably an integral part of the global carbon cycle, says Dittmar, its effects seen from land to sea.

The discovery carries significant implications for bioengineering, the scientists believe.

The global carbon budget is a balancing act between sources that produce carbon and sources that remove it.

The new findings show that the amount of dissolved charcoal transported to the oceans is keeping pace with the total charcoal generated by fires annually on a global scale.

While the environmental consequences of the accumulation of black carbon in surface and ocean waters are currently unknown, Jaffe said the findings mean that greater consideration should be given to carbon sequestration techniques.

Biochar addition to soils is one such technique.

Biochar technology is based on vegetation-derived charcoal that is added to agricultural soils as a means of sequestering carbon.

As more people implement biochar technology, says Jaffe, they should take into consideration the potential dissolution of the charcoal to ensure that these techniques are environmentally friendly.

Jaffe and Dittmar agree that there are still many unknowns when it comes to the environmental fate of charcoal, and both plan to move on to the next phase of the research.

They've proved where charcoal goes.

Now they'd like to answer how that happens, and what the environmental consequences are.

The more scientists can understand the process and the environmental factors controlling it, says Jaffe, the better the chances of developing strategies for carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change.

The research was also conducted at NSF's Bonanza Creek; Konza Prairie; Hubbard Brook; Coweeta; and Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER sites, and at other locations around the world.

Other authors of the paper are: Yan Ding of Florida International University; Jutta Niggemann of the Max Planck Research Group for Marine Geochemistry; Anssi Vahatalo of the University of Helsinki; Aron Stubbins of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah, Georgia; Robert Spencer of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts; and John Campbell of the USDA Forest Service.

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734
 cdybas@nsf.gov
JoAnn Adkins, FIU (305) 979-5276
 jadkins@fiu.edu
McOwiti Thomas, LTER Network Office (505) 277-2638
tmcowiti@lternet.edu

Related WebsitesNSF Publication: Discoveries in Long-Term Ecological Research:
 http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13083/nsf13083.pdf?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network:
 http://www.lternet.edu
NSF Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Site:
 http://fce.lternet.edu/
NSF Bonanza Creek LTER Site:
 http://www.lternet.edu/sites/bnz
NSF Konza Prairie LTER Site:
 http://www.lternet.edu/sites/knz
NSF Hubbard Brook LTER Site:
http://www.lternet.edu/sites/hbr
NSF Coweeta LTER Site:
 http://www.lternet.edu/sites/cwt
NSF Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Site:
http://www.lternet.edu/sites/gce

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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 The National Science Foundation (NSF).

 Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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nsf.gov - Cutting Specific Atmospheric Pollutants Would Slow Sea Level Rise

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido una interesante información de The National Science Foundation (NSF), sobre la  disminución  las emisiones de carbón negro, metano y otros agentes contaminadores hacen una diferencia. Como dice el recorte de Agentes contaminadores Específicos Atmosféricos Reduciría la marcha Subida de Nivel del Mar.

Con áreas costeras frescas para niveles crecientes de mar, la nueva investigación indica que el recorte de las emisiones de ciertos agentes contaminadores enormemente puede reducir la marcha la subida de nivel de mar este siglo.

Los científicos encontraron que reducciones de cuatro agentes contaminadores por los cuales el ciclo relativamente rápidamente por la atmósfera temporalmente podría prevenir la subida de nivel de mar aproximadamente el 25 a 50 por ciento.

Amigos les invito a leer la versión original en inglés............

 

Black carbon, a short-lived pollutant (shown in purple), shrouds the globe.
Credit: NOAA
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The path to black carbon: where it comes from, where it goes.
Credit: NOAA
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Image showing thick haze and smoke along the Ganges Basin in northern India.
Credit: NASA
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Controlled burns release huge amounts of sooty black carbon into the atmosphere.
Credit: USCG
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Soot in exhaust spews out black carbon.
Credit: US EPA
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Black carbon enters the atmosphere, then returns to land and sea.
Credit: NOAA
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With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of certain pollutants can greatly slow sea level rise this century.

Scientists found that reductions in four pollutants that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent.

The researchers focused on emissions of four heat-trapping pollutants: methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon.

These gases and particles last anywhere from a week to a decade in the atmosphere and can influence climate more quickly than carbon dioxide, which persists in the atmosphere for centuries.

"To avoid potentially dangerous sea level rise, we could cut emissions of short-lived pollutants even if we cannot immediately cut carbon dioxide emissions," says Aixue Hu of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., first author of a paper published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.

"Society can significantly reduce the threat to coastal cities if it moves quickly on a handful of pollutants."

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Sea level rise and its consequences present enormous challenges to modern society," says Anjuli Bamzai, program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which supported the research.

"This study looks at projections of global sea level rise, unraveling the effects of mitigating short-lived greenhouse gases such as methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon, as well as long-lived greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide," says Bamzai.   

It is still not too late, "by stabilizing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and reducing emissions of shorter-lived pollutants, to lower the rate of warming and reduce sea level rise by 30 percent," says atmospheric scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in San Diego, a co-author of the paper.  Ramanathan initiated and helped oversee the study.

"The large role of the shorter-lived pollutants is encouraging since technologies are available to drastically cut their emissions," says Ramanathan.

The potential effects of rising oceans on populated areas are of great concern, he says.

Many of the world's major cities, such as New York, Miami, Amsterdam, Mumbai, and Tokyo, are located in low-lying areas along coasts.

As glaciers and ice sheets melt, and warming oceans expand, sea levels have been rising by an average of about 3 millimeters annually in recent years (just over one-tenth of an inch).

If temperatures continue to warm, sea levels are projected to rise between 18 and 200 centimeters (between 7 inches and 6 feet) this century, according to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. National Research Council.

Such an increase could submerge coastal communities, especially when storm surges hit.

Previous research by Ramanathan and Yangyang Xu of SIO, a co-author of the paper, showed that a sharp reduction in emissions of shorter-lived pollutants beginning in 2015 could offset warming temperatures by up to 50 percent by 2050.

Applying those emission reductions to sea level rise, the researchers found that the cuts could dramatically slow rising sea levels.

The results showed that total sea level rise would be reduced by an estimated 22 to 42 percent by 2100, depending on the extent to which emissions were cut.

However, the study also found that delaying emissions cuts until 2040 would reduce the beneficial effect on year-2100 sea level rise by about a third.

If society were able to substantially reduce both emissions of carbon dioxide as well as the four other pollutants, total sea level rise would be lessened by at least 30 percent by 2100, the researchers conclude.

"We still have some control over the amount of sea level rise we are facing," Hu says.

Another paper co-author, Claudia Tebaldi of Climate Central, adds:  "Without diminishing the importance of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the long-term, this study shows that more immediate gains from shorter-lived pollutants are substantial.

"Cutting emissions of those gases could give coastal communities more time to prepare for rising sea levels," says Tebaldi.  "As we have seen recently, storm surges in populated regions of the East Coast show the importance of making such preparations and cutting greenhouse gases."

To conduct the study, Hu and colleagues turned to the NCAR-based Community Climate System Model, as well as a second computer model that simulates climate, carbon and geochemistry.

They also drew on estimates of future emissions of heat-trapping gases under various social and economic scenarios and on computer models of melting ice and sea level rise.

The study assumes that society could reduce emissions of the four gases and particles by 30-60 percent over the next several decades.

That is the steepest reduction believed achievable by economists who have studied the issue at Austria's International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, one of the world's leading research centers into the effects of economic activity on climate change.

"It must be remembered that carbon dioxide is still the most important factor in sea level rise over the long-term," says NCAR scientist Warren Washington, a paper co-author. "But we can make a real difference in the next several decades by reducing other emissions."

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
David Hosansky, NCAR (303) 497-8611 hosansky@ucar.edu
Robert Monroe, SIO (858) 534-3624 rmonroe@ucsd.edu

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

 Get News Updates by Email 

Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News: http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media: http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/

 The National Science Foundation (NSF) 

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!