Blue Carbon
Carbon cycle
Ocean surface
1 020
Units of Carbon used. This report will use Tg C, but read- ers will also see values for C and CO 2 , provided in a wide range of formats. The following information may assist in wider reading. Definition: Measuring Carbon
50
Dissolved organic C
650
40
6
Factor 10 3 10 6 10 9
Name One thousand
Symbol k (Kilo) M (Mega) G (Giga)
- - -- - - - - -- - - 3
50
Marine biota
Labile dissolved organic C
One million One billion One trillion
4
10 12 10 15
T (Tera) P (Peta)
6
100
1km 2 = 100ha 1 ton = 2,240lbs 1 (metric) ton = 1,000kg or 1x10 6 g Blue carbon sinks capture CO 2 through photosynthesis from the air and water and store it as carbon.
Deep ocean
The rate of converting C to CO 2 is 44/12; i.e. 1 aton of C is equivalent to 3.67t CO 2
38 100
0.2
Figure 1: Carbon Cycle. Oceans are crucial in the global carbon cycle. It was here where life first evolved; they are the source of our wealth and development. The living oceans capture over half of all the Green carbon – the car- bon bound by living organisms through photosynthesis.
150
Sediments
13
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