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Monitoring changes to the global water and carbon cycle - Coggle Diagram
Monitoring changes to the global water and carbon cycle
Diurnal changes
Lower temperatures at night = reduced evaporation and transpiration
Convectional precipitation during the day, when temperatures reach a maximum. This is particularly significant in climatic regions where the bulk of precipitation is from convectional storms
During the daytime, CO2 flows from the atmosphere to vegetation whereas at night this flux is reversed, photosynthesis switches off and vegetation loses CO2 to the atmosphere
Seasonal change
Typical solar input in June, when it peaks, is around 800 W/m2 but in December this falls to 150 W/m2.
As a result, evapotranspiration is highest in the summer months and lowest in the winter.
In the driest parts of England, over 80% of precipitation may be lost to evapotranspiration and so river flows are subsequently at their lowest too.
Long-term changes
Water cycle
Net transfer of water from the ocean to ice sheets, glaciers and permafrost
Sea levels fall 100-130 m and ice sheets and glaciers worldwide cover 1/3 of the Earth's land mass
Areas covered in vegetation and water stored in the biosphere is reduced
Water cycle is ultimately slowed
Carbon cycle
Glacial periods
Reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere
Changes to ocean circulation bring nutrients to the surface ans stimulate phytoplankton growth
Carbon pool in vegetation is also reduced due to the ice sheets and tundra replaces grasslands and temperate forests
Carbon sequestered in permafrost
Net primary productivity of vegetation (NPP)
Shows month-to-month changes in the carbon cycle
During the northern hemisphere summer, when trees are full of foliage, there is a net global flow of CO2 from the atmosphere to the biosphere.
At the end of summer, it's reversed as natural decomposition releases CO2 back into the atmosphere.
In oceans, phytoplankton are stimulated into photosynthetic activity by rising water temperatures, more intense sunlight and the lengthening photoperiod.