Global warming carbon release

One of the main benefits from future use of biofuels would be the reduction of greenhouse gases compared to the use of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, is released into the air from combustion. Twenty-four percent of worldwide energy-related carbon emissions in 1997 were from the United States. Carbon... 

Carbon. Most of the Earth s supply of carbon is stored in carbonate rocks in the Hthosphere. Normally the circulation rate for Hthospheric carbon is slow compared with that of carbon between the atmosphere and biosphere. The carbon cycle has received much attention in recent years as a result of research into the possible relation between increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, most of which is produced by combustion of fossil fuel, and the "greenhouse effect," or global warming. Extensive research has been done on the rate at which carbon dioxide might be converted to cellulose and other photosyntheticaHy produced organic compounds by various forms of natural and cultivated plants. Estimates also have been made of the rate at which carbon dioxide is released to soil under optimum conditions by various kinds of plant cover, such as temperature-zone deciduous forests, cultivated farm crops, prairie grassland, and desert vegetation. 

Carbon dioxide has been implicated as a contributing factor in global warming. Increased global warming has been associated with increased release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere attributed in part to an increase in the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Carbon dioxide is an inevitable consequence of the complete combustion of hydrocarbons in air. If combustion devices are made more efficient, less fuel is required and less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. 

Air pollution is a well known problem, one that migrates across international boundaries. Chemists sampling the air in North America, for example, can detect heavy metals released by smelters operating in China. Chlorofluorocar-bons released in the Northern Hemisphere affect ozone levels in the air above the South Pole. Since the introduction of the internal-combustion engine, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been rising markedly, and global warming is a potential consequence. 

Methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. If all the methane trapped in methane hydrates were suddenly released into the atmosphere (by warming of the ocean, for example), the rate of global warming could increase dramatically. 

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