NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere

Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is present in a low concentration. Regardless, it is essential to photosynthesis in plants and other photoautotrophs, and is also a prominent greenhouse gas due to its radiative forcing strength. Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. ... Air redirects here. ... The leaf is the primary site of photosynthesis in plants. ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Phototrophs or photoautotrophs are photosynthetic algae, fungi, bacteria and cyanobacteria which build up carbon dioxide and water into organic cell materials using energy from sunlight. ... Top: Increasing atmospheric CO2 levels as measured in the atmosphere and ice cores. ... The generalised concept of radiative forcing in climate science is any change in the radiation (heat) entering the climate system or changes in radiatively active gases. ...

Concentration

As of January 2007, the CO₂ concentration in Earth's atmosphere was about 0.0383% by volume, or 383 ppmv. This is 99 ppm (35%) above the 1832 ice core levels of 284 ppm. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes current levels "...as a dry mole fraction defined as the number of molecules of carbon dioxide divided by the number of molecules of dry air multiplied by one million (ppm)." and the chart as of July 2007 shows a level of about 387 ppm.^[1]^[2]^[3] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) is an atmospheric baseline station. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Air redirects here. ... The parts-per notations are used to denote low concentrations of chemical elements. ... The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a scientific agency of the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. ... The mole fraction is one way of expressing the relative concentration of a given species. ...

There is an annual fluctuation of about 3-9 ppm in the measurements, which roughly follows the Northern Hemisphere's growing season. The Northern Hemisphere dominates the annual cycle of CO₂ concentration because it has much greater land area and plant biomass than the Southern Hemisphere. Concentrations peak in May as the spring greenup begins and reach a minimum in October when the quantity of biomass undergoing photosynthesis is greatest.^[4] Northern hemisphere highlighted in yellow. ... See biomass (ecology) for the use of the term in ecology, where it refers to the cumulation of living matter Switchgrass, a tough plant used in the biofuel industry in the United States Rice chaff. ...

Despite its relatively small concentration overall in the atmosphere, CO₂ is an important component of Earth's atmosphere because it absorbs infrared radiation at wavelengths of 4.26 µm (asymmetric stretching vibrational mode) and 14.99 µm (bending vibrational mode), thereby playing a role in the greenhouse effect.^[5] See also "Carbon dioxide equivalent".
For other uses, see Infrared (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Wavelength (disambiguation). ... A micrometre (American spelling: micrometer, symbol Âµm) is an SI unit of length. ... Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy) is the subset of spectroscopy that deals with the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. ... Wikinews has related news: Scientists warn thawing Siberia may trigger global meltdown A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy between outer space, the Earths atmosphere, and the Earth surface. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The initial carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the young Earth was produced by volcanic activity. This was essential for a warm and stable climate conducive to life. Volcanic activity now releases about 130 to 230 teragrams (145 million to 255 million short tons) of carbon dioxide each year,^[6] which is less than 1% of the amount released by human activities.^[7] Image File history File links Co2_vib_modes. ... Image File history File links Co2_vib_modes. ... Dipole moment refers to the quality of a system to behave like a dipole. ... In modern physics the photon is the elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena. ... Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the International Space Station For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation). ... BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ... The short ton is a unit of mass equal to 907. ...

From 1832 to 2004, the atmospheric CO₂ concentration increased from 284 ppmv to 377 ppmv, or about 33%, with most of the change occurring since 1970. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum is the leading cause of increased man-made CO₂; deforestation is the second major cause. As of 2004, around 27 gigatonnes of CO₂ are released from fossil fuels per year worldwide, equivalent to about 7.4 gigatonnes of carbon (see List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions); in 2006 8.4 gigatonnes carbon were emitted[1]. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the earthâ€™s crust. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Åukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... This article is about the process of deforestation in the environment. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A gigaton (or gigatonne) is a metric unit of mass, equal to 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) metric tons, 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) kilograms, or 1 quadrillion grams. ... This is a list of countries by carbon dioxide emissions. ...

Carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere by a variety of natural sources, and over 95% percent of total CO₂ emissions would occur even if humans were not present on Earth. For example, the natural decay of organic material in forests and grasslands, such as dead trees, results in the release of about 220 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year. This carbon dioxide alone is over 8 times the amount emitted by humans. These natural sources are balanced by natural sinks, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.^[8] The increase in carbon dioxide concentration arises because the increase from human activity is not balanced by a corresponding sink.

In 1997, Indonesian peat fires may have released 13% – 40% as much carbon as fossil fuel burning does in a single year.^[9]^[10] Various techniques have been proposed for removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in carbon dioxide sinks. Not all the emitted CO₂ remains in the atmosphere; some is absorbed in the oceans or biosphere. The ratio of the increase in atmospheric CO₂ to emitted CO₂ is known as the airborne fraction (Keeling et al., 1995); this varies for short-term averages but is typically 57% over longer (5 year) periods. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 455 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Carbon dioxide Peat User:SEWilco/Images ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 455 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Carbon dioxide Peat User:SEWilco/Images ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ...

Increased amounts of CO₂ in the atmosphere enhance the greenhouse effect. It is currently the majority scientific opinion that carbon dioxide emissions are the main cause of global warming observed since the mid-20th century. The effect of combustion-produced carbon dioxide on climate is occasionally called the Callendar effect, after engineer and inventor Guy Stewart Callendar who was one of the first to propose this association. Wikinews has related news: Scientists warn thawing Siberia may trigger global meltdown A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy between outer space, the Earths atmosphere, and the Earth surface. ... Pronouncements Various prominent bodies have commented on global warming, most notably the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ... Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earths near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. ... The Callendar effect is a name for the effect of combustion-produced carbon dioxide on the global climate. ... Guy Stewart Callendar (Feb 1898 - Oct 1964) was an English steam engineer and inventor, but whose main contribution to knowledge was propounding the theory that linked rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere to global temperature. ...

Origins

Natural sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide include volcanic outgassing, the combustion of organic matter, and the respiration processes of living aerobic organisms; man-made sources of carbon dioxide include the burning of fossil fuels for heating, power generation and transport. It is also produced by various microorganisms from fermentation and cellular respiration. Plants convert carbon dioxide to carbohydrates during a process called photosynthesis. They produce the energy needed for this reaction through the photolysis of water. The resulting gas, oxygen, is released into the atmosphere by plants, which is subsequently used for respiration by heterotrophic organisms, forming a cycle. This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... Outgassing (sometimes called Offgassing, particularly when in reference to indoor air quality) is the slow release of a gas that was trapped, frozen, absorbed or adsorbed in some material. ... This article is about the chemical reaction combustion. ... Benzene is the simplest of the arenes, a family of organic compounds An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. ... In animal physiology, respiration is the transport of oxygen from the ambient air to the tissue cells and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. ... Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria can be identified by growning them in liquid culture: 1: Obligate aerobic bacteria gather at the top of the test tube in order to absorb maximal amount of oxygen. ... Fossil fuels are hydrocarbon-containing natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas. ... World-wide electricity production for 1980 to 2005. ... A cluster of Escherichia coli bacteria magnified 10,000 times. ... For other uses, see Fermentation. ... Cellular respiration was discovered by mad scientist Mr. ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Lactose is a disaccharide found in milk. ... The leaf is the primary site of photosynthesis in plants. ... Photolysis refers to any chemical reaction in which a compound is broken down by light. ... A heterotroph (Greek heteron = (an)other and trophe = nutrition) is an organism that requires organic substrates to get its carbon for growth and development. ... For the thermonuclear reaction involving carbon that helps power stars, see CNO cycle. ...

During the 100,000 year ice age cycle, CO2 varies between a low of approximately 200 ppm during cold periods and a high of 280 ppm during interglacials. Recent human influences have increased this to above 380 ppm. There is a large natural flux of CO2 into and out of the biosphere and oceans. In the pre-industrial era these fluxes were largely in balance. Currently approximately 50% of human-emitted CO2 is removed; without this effect CO2 levels would be even higher.

Historical variation

The most direct method for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for periods before direct sampling is to measure bubbles of air (fluid or gas inclusions) trapped in the Antarctic or Greenland ice caps. The most widely accepted of such studies come from a variety of Antarctic cores and indicate that atmospheric CO₂ levels were about 260 – 280 ppmv immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding 10,000 years (10 kyr). Image File history File links Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr. ... Image File history File links Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr. ... Trapped in a time capsule the same size as the diameter of a human hair, the ore-forming liquid in this inclusion was so hot and contained so much dissolved solids that when it cooled, crystals of halite, sylvite, gypsum, and hematite formed. ... For other uses, see Antarctica (disambiguation). ... kyr is occasionally used in geology and astronomy as a unit of one thousand years or millennium. ...

The longest ice core record comes from East Antarctica, where ice has been sampled to an age of 800 kyr BP (Before Present).^[11] During this time, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has varied by volume between 180 – 210 ppm during ice ages, increasing to 280 – 300 ppm during warmer interglacials.^[12] The data can be accessed here. Ice Core sample taken from drill. ... Before Present (BP) years are the units of time (counted backwards to the past) used to report raw radiocarbon ages and dates referenced to the BP scale origin in the year AD 1950 (identical to 1950 CE). ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... Glaciation, often called an ice age, is a geological phenomenon in which massive ice sheets form in the Arctic and Antarctic and advance toward the equator. ...

Some studies have disputed the claim of stable CO₂ levels during the present interglacial of the last 10 kyr. Based on an analysis of fossil leaves, Wagner et al.^[13] argued that CO₂ levels during the period 7 – 10 kyr ago were significantly higher (~300 ppm) and contained substantial variations that may be correlated to climate variations. Others have disputed such claims, suggesting they are more likely to reflect calibration problems than actual changes in CO₂.^[14] Relevant to this dispute is the observation that Greenland ice cores often report higher and more variable CO₂ values than similar measurements in Antarctica. However, the groups responsible for such measurements (e.g., Smith et al.^[15]) believe the variations in Greenland cores result from in situ decomposition of calcium carbonate dust found in the ice. When dust levels in Greenland cores are low, as they nearly always are in Antarctic cores, the researchers report good agreement between Antarctic and Greenland CO₂ measurements. Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with the chemical formula CaCO3. ...

On longer timescales, various proxy measurements have been used to attempt to determine atmospheric carbon dioxide levels millions of years in the past. These include boron and carbon isotope ratios in certain types of marine sediments, and the number of stomata observed on fossil plant leaves. While these measurements give much less precise estimates of carbon dioxide concentration than ice cores, there is evidence for very high CO₂ volume concentrations between 200 and 150 myr BP of over 3,000 ppm and between 600 and 400 myr BP of over 6,000 ppm.^[16] On long timescales, atmospheric CO₂ content is determined by the balance among geochemical processes including organic carbon burial in sediments, silicate rock weathering, and vulcanism. The net effect of slight imbalances in the carbon cycle over tens to hundreds of millions of years has been to reduce atmospheric CO₂. The rates of these processes are extremely slow; hence they are of limited relevance to the atmospheric CO₂ response to emissions over the next hundred years. In more recent times, atmospheric CO₂ concentration continued to fall after about 60 myr BP, and there is geochemical evidence that volume concentrations were less than 300 ppm by about 20 myr BP. Low CO₂ concentrations may have been the stimulus that favored the evolution of C4 plants, which increased greatly in abundance between 7 and 5 myr BP. Present carbon dioxide levels are likely higher now than at any time during the past 20 myr^[17] and certainly higher than in the last 800,000. Image File history File links Phanerozoic_Carbon_Dioxide. ... Image File history File links Phanerozoic_Carbon_Dioxide. ... During the Phanerozoic the biodiversity shows a steady but not monotonic increase from near zero to several thousands of genera. ... In climate research, a proxy variable is something that is probably not in itself of any great interest, but from which a variable of interest can be obtained. ... General Name, Symbol, Number boron, B, 5 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 13, 2, p Appearance black/brown Standard atomic weight 10. ... For other uses, see Carbon (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Isotope (disambiguation). ... This is not about surgically created bowel openings; see stoma (medicine) In botany, a stoma (also stomate; plural stomata) is a tiny opening or pore, found mostly on the undersurface of a plant leaf, and used for gas exchange. ... Myr is often used in geology as a unit of one million years. ... Weathering is the decomposition of rocks, soils and their minerals through direct contact with the Earths atmosphere. ... For the thermonuclear reaction involving carbon that helps power stars, see CNO cycle. ... Overview of C4 carbon fixation C4 carbon fixation is one of three methods, along with C3 and CAM photosynthesis, used by land plants to fix carbon dioxide (binding the gaseous molecules to dissolved compounds inside the plant) for sugar production through photosynthesis. ...

Relationship with oceanic concentration

The Earth's oceans contain a huge amount of carbon dioxide in the form of bicarbonate and carbonate ions — much more than the amount in the atmosphere. The bicarbonate is produced in reactions between rock, water, and carbon dioxide. One example is the dissolution of calcium carbonate: Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1155x806, 281 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Carbon dioxide ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1155x806, 281 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Carbon dioxide ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ...

Reactions like this tend to buffer changes in atmospheric CO₂. However, since it produces an acidic compound, the pH of sea water is thought to go down with increasing carbon dioxide levels. Reactions between carbon dioxide and non-carbonate rocks also add bicarbonate to the seas, which can later undergo the reverse of the above reaction to form carbonate rocks, releasing half of the bicarbonate as CO₂. Over hundreds of millions of years this has produced huge quantities of carbonate rocks. For other uses, see PH (disambiguation). ...

The vast majority of CO₂ added to the atmosphere will eventually be absorbed by the oceans and become bicarbonate ion, but the process takes on the order of a hundred years because most seawater rarely comes near the surface.

As the oceans warm, carbon dioxide solubility in the surface waters decreases markedly. However, the overall system is quite complex, as indicated above, and further details may be found in the article on the carbon solubility pump. In oceanic biogeochemistry, the solubility pump is a physico-chemical process that transports carbon (as dissolved inorganic carbon) from the oceans surface to its interior. ...

An unknown, though probably large, quantity of CO₂ is in the ocean sediments as a methane-carbon dioxide-water clathrates, one of the family of gas hydrates.

See also

Image File history File links Portal. ... Global carbon dioxide emissions 1800â€“2000 Global average surface temperature 1850 to 2006 Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change: A Scientific Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases was a 2005 international conference that redefined the link between atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration, and the 2Â°C (3. ... Wikinews has related news: Scientists warn thawing Siberia may trigger global meltdown A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy between outer space, the Earths atmosphere, and the Earth surface. ... Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earths near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. ...

References

Categories: Atmosphere | Carbon dioxide | Global warming Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earths near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 450,000 years For current global climate change, see Global warming. ... The temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time. ... Instrumental global surface temperature measurements; see also [http://www. ... Comparison of ground based (blue) and satellite based (red: UAH; green: RSS) records of temperature variations since 1979. ... The temperature record of the past 1000 years describes the reconstruction of temperature for the last 1000 years on the Northern Hemisphere. ... The website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contains detailed data of the annual land and ocean temperature since 1880. ... This article is devoted to temperature changes in Earths environment as determined from geologic evidence on multi-million to billion (109) year time scales. ... Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. ... In IPCC reports, equilibrium climate sensitivity refers to the equilibrium change in global mean surface temperature following a doubling of the atmospheric (equivalent) CO2 concentration. ... Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earths surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic measurements in 1950s. ... Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming. ... Wikinews has related news: Scientists warn thawing Siberia may trigger global meltdown A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy between outer space, the Earths atmosphere, and the Earth surface. ... Top: Increasing atmospheric CO2 levels as measured in the atmosphere and ice cores. ... The Keeling Curve is a graph measuring the increase in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1958. ... Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) is a term often used in climate change topics. ... An urban heat island (UHI) is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surroundings. ... Cloud forcing (sometimes described as cloud radiative forcing) is the difference between the radiation budget components for average cloud conditions and cloud-free conditions. ... A glaciation (a created composite term meaning Glacial Period, referring to the Period or Era of, as well as the process of High Glacial Activity), often called an ice age, is a geological phenomenon in which massive ice sheets form in the Arctic and Antarctic and advance toward the equator. ... Global cooling in general can refer to a cooling of the Earth. ... Chart of ocean surface temperature anomaly [Â°C] during the last strong El NiÃ±o in December 1997 El NiÃ±o and La NiÃ±a (also written in English as El Nino and La Nina) are major temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. ... Milankovitch cycles are the collective effect of changes in the Earths movements upon its climate, named after Serbian civil engineer and mathematician Milutin MilankoviÄ‡. The eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession of the Earths orbit vary in several patterns, resulting in 100,000 year ice age cycles of the... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... The generalised concept of radiative forcing in climate science is any change in the radiation (heat) entering the climate system or changes in radiatively active gases. ... 400 year history of sunspot numbers. ... Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the International Space Station For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation). ... National and international science academies and professional societies have assessed the current scientific opinion on climate change, in particular recent global warming. ... Climate models use quantitative methods to simulate the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice. ... General Circulation Models (GCMs) are a class of computer-driven models for weather forecasting and predicting climate change, where they are commonly called Global Climate Models. ... Global monthly average total ozone amount Ozone depletion describes 14 distinct, but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total amount of ozone in Earths stratosphere since around 1980; and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earths... Change in sea surface pH caused by anthropogenic CO2 between the 1700s and the 1990s Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earths oceans, caused by their uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. ... The politics of global warming looks at the current political issues relating to global warming, as well as the historical rise of global warming as a political issue. ... The global warming controversy is a dispute regarding the nature and consequences of global warming. ... IPCC is the science authority for the UNFCCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to evaluate the risk of climate change brought on by humans, based mainly on... This article lists scientists and former scientists who have stated disagreement with one or more of the principal conclusions of the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming. ... The net impact of global warming so far has been modest, but near-future effects are likely to become significantly negative, with large-scale extreme impacts possible by the end of the century. ... Sea level measurements from 23 long tide gauge records in geologically stable environments show a rise of around 20 centimeters per century (2 mm/year). ... A view down the Whitechuck Glacier in North Cascades National Park in 1973 The same view as seen in 2006, where this branch of glacier retreated 1. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The National Assessment on Climate Change (NACC) was a massive multidisciplinary effort to study and portray in regional detail the potential effects of human-induced global warming on the United States. ... As recent estimates of the rate of global warming have increased, so have the financial estimates of the damage costs. ... Shutdown or slowdown of the thermohaline circulation is a possible effect of global warming. ... An extinction event (also extinction-level event, ELE) is a period in time when a large number of species die out. ... Global carbon dioxide emissions 1800â€“2000 Global average surface temperature 1850 to 2006 Mitigation of global warming involves taking actions aimed at reducing the extent of global warming. ... Kyoto Protocol Opened for signature December 11, 1997 in Kyoto, Japan Entered into force February 16, 2005. ... CDM directs here. ... The United Kingdoms Climate Change Programme was launched in November 2000 by the British government in response to its commitment agreed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). ... The European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) was launched in June 2000 by the European Unions European Commission. ... Emissions trading (or cap and trade) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. ... Emissions trading schemes (also known as â€˜cap and tradeâ€™ schemes) are one of the policy instruments available for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. ... A carbon tax is a tax on energy sources which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. ... Until recently, most carbon offsets were commonly done by planting trees. ... This article deals with carbon credits for international trading. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Carbon capture and storage. ... The issue of human-caused, or anthropogenic, climate change (global warming) is becoming a central focus of the Green movement. ... Adaptation to global warming covers all actions aimed at reducing the negative effects of global warming. ...

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