Established in February 2019 by the Department of Earth System Sciences and Environmental Technologies of the CNR, the “Carbon Cycle” working group is made up of 11 researchers from numerous CNR institutes, universities and other research institutions. The group was established from the workshop “Earth, life and climate: The Carbon Cycle” (news on the CNR website), the first meeting of scientific discussion in the Italian community engaged in the Carbon Cycle, organized in November 2018 at the CNR Research Area in Pisa.

Why a network dedicated to the Carbon Cycle?

Carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the universe and forms a very high number of inorganic and organic compounds that are constantly transformed through the metabolism of organisms and natural chemical processes. The largest carbon reservoirs are the lithosphere and the mantle, which contain about one hundred million GtC, of ​​which 4,000 in the form of fossil fuels, the oceans with about 40,000 GtC, the soil and vegetation with 2,200 GtC and finally the atmosphere with about 750 GtC, about 180 GtC more than in pre-industrial times. Carbon exchanges between these reservoirs are characterized by chemical, physical and biological interactions according to processes that vary in time and space. There are still many open questions and uncertainties to which we are called to respond:

• What are the geological flows of carbon – degassing and sequestration – and how have they varied over time?
• What is the role of methane and what is its contribution to the carbon cycle, with particular reference to wetlands and permafrost?
• What are the feedbacks from food webs, both aquatic and terrestrial, and how do they modify C fluxes?
• What are the interactions between dissolved organic matter in the sea and microbial communities and what are the consequences for the carbon cycle?
• What are the interactions between the various spheres of the Earth system, how have they changed in the past and how are they changing today?
• What are the main uncertainties in quantifying anthropogenic components of the carbon cycle and how can they be reduced?

The growing and unstoppable increase of fossil carbon in the atmosphere due to human activities is one of the main causes of global warming; various feedback and amplification processes could further increase its concentration, primarily through the dramatic melting of Permafrost. It is therefore of crucial importance to discuss the best strategies of action, ranging from multifunctional management of forests, to the protection of marine and terrestrial ecosystems up to the development of negative emissions technologies, which can contribute to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Contacts and Initiatives

For information or proposals you can write to us at the email address carbonetwork@cnr.it

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