Weathering carbon dioxide

Soil reaction (pH) The relationship between the environment and development of acid or alkaline conditions in soil has been discussed with respect to formation of soils from the parent rock materials. Soil acidity comes in part by the formation of carbonic acid from carbon dioxide of biological origin and water. Other acidic development may come from acid residues of weathering, shifts in mineral types, loss of alkaline or basic earth elements by leaching, formation of organic or inorganic acids by microbial activity, plant root secretions, and man-made pollution of the soil, especially by industrial wastes. 

Land/atmospheric interfacial processes which impact climate and biological activity on earth are illustrated in Figure 3. Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been linked to the transmission of solar radiation to the surface of the earth as well as to the transmission of terrestrial radiation to space. Should solar radiation be an internal process or an external driver of the hydrologic cycle, weather, and air surface temperatures Compounds of sulfur and nitrogen are associated with acidic precipitation and damage to vegetation, aquatic life, and physical structures. 

Climate is often viewed as the aggregate of all of the elements of weather, with quantitative definitions being purely physical. However, because of couplings of carbon dioxide and many other atmospheric species to both physical climate and to the biosphere, the stability of the climate system depends in principle on the nature of feedbacks involving the biosphere. For example, the notion that sulfate particles originating from the oxidation of dimethylsulfide emitted by marine phytoplankton can affect the albedo (reflectivity) of clouds (Charlson et ai, 1987). At this point these feedbacks are mostly unidentified, and poorly quantified. 

Ice ages ended quickly. Processes that promote the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are positive feedbacks in ending an ice age. Is subglacial chemical weathering a positive or a negative feedback What circumstances would allow one to give the opposite answer (Hint ... 

Freshly cast lead has a bright, silvery appearance. On exposure to the atmosphere, however, lead in the surface layer combines with atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide to form a dark, stable gray coating of mixed lead oxide and basic lead carbonate. This layer usually protects the metal from further oxidation and corrosion (see Fig. 38). Protected by a weathered surface layer, solid lead is stable to further corrosion. Lead is also very ductile and soft, being the softest metal known in antiquity. It is mainly because of these properties that lead was widely used for building, to make pipes and roofs, and in naval construction, for example. Solid lead flows, albeit very... 

Vinegar is recommended for cleaning a variety of appliances and other items that may be stained by hard water deposits. Automatic coffee makers, steam irons, dishwashers, teapots, faucet heads, and shower heads — over time, all accumulate calcium deposits from hard water. Groundwater, that is, water that travels through soil and rocks, accumulates dissolved calcium ions as a consequence of the natural weathering of minerals that contain calcium such as limestone and calcite, shells, and coral. At the same time, carbon dioxide in the air dissolves in water to form carbonate ions that combine with calcium ions to form a white solid, calcium... 

Carbon dioxide plays a key role in climate, in biological processes, in weathering reactions, and in marine chemistry. I shall next describe how the partial pressure of this gas in the atmosphere may be calculated. Because there is a rapid exchange of carbon dioxide between ocean and atmosphere, we must consider the fate of dissolved carbon. 

We take K = 113 mol kg"1 atm-1. At steady-state, which we note with the superscript pt=3 x 10-4atm, x = 10.3 x 10 3molkg 1, xrt=3.6x 10-4molkg-1. Since in this model CaC03 is the only sink of carbon dioxide, xrt = yrt at steady-state, and therefore yr=yrf=3.6 x 10 4. This is enough to estimate the weathering constant K from equation (7.4.21)... 

Any current warming of the earth is small and is probably quite normal climate variability, (2) There is no noticeable increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, (3) Talk of rising sea levels is alarmist and not supported by data, (4) Despite claims to the contrary, research shows that temperatures and carbon dioxide levels have been higher than today, (5) The current level of carbon dioxide is no cause for alarm,. . . and (7) An increase in the level of carbon dioxide is not the cause of global warming. 

The consensus of scientists with expertise in climate and weather issues appears to he that global warming is of sufficient concern to demand some form of political action. They argue that it is more prudent to act now to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and reduce the risk of global warming than to... 

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