Some of the more radical proposals to address and mitigate climate change involv

Question

Some of the more radical proposals to address and mitigate climate change involve geoengineering, which involves deliberately modifying Earth’s climate. Evaluate how the actions listed below would affect the global climate and global biogeochemical cycles by answering the questions that follow.

Option 1: Plant more trees.

a. Describe two ways that option 1 would affect the carbon cycle.

b. Based only on its effect on the carbon cycle, how would you expect option 1 to impact the global climate? How long would it take for the effects to be seen? How long would you expect these effects to last? What potential problems are there with this option?

Explanation / Answer

A. Carbon dioxide is used by plants in the presence od sunlight to make carbohydrate. Thus carbon makes a part of plant which upon death of the plant turns into fossil fuels coal and oil. When by anthropogenic activities this fossil fuel is burnt the carbin goes into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide.

B. Green plants produce carbohydrate by using carbon dioxide of the atmosphere. Thus they help in reducing the gases which otherwise will contribute to enhancing the temperature of the earth by trapping the rays of the sun. With increasing number of planted trees we can expect the reduction in global warming. But these are time taking process. It may take years to see some significant effect. As long as the carbin dioxide level is less we can see these effects.

As plants do contribute in carbon dioxide production by tge process of respiration it helps in increasing the global warming too. Thus this is a possible problem.

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