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To what extent does an understanding of feedback systems in the carbon cycle help with attempts to mitigate the impacts of climate change? $5.19
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This is a high quality 20 mark essay written by an A* student about understanding of feedback systems in the carbon cycle and how these link with mitigating climate change.
To what extent does an understanding of feedback systems in the carbon cycle help with
attempts to mitigate the impacts of climate change? [20 marks]
Positive feedback is the process which takes a system away from equilibrium, whereas
negative feedback takes a system closer to equilibrium. If a system experiences positive
feedback, effects can be seen on many scales, such as the effect of climate change on the
world. Understanding this concept in relation to the carbon cycle can help mitigate the
impacts of climate change.
Deforestation in a good example of a positive feedback loop. As humans cut down more
trees for homes, farmland, transport links, and resources, there are less trees available to
sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When deforestation by burning occurs,
carbon from the biosphere is immediately released into the atmosphere, which can no longer
be absorbed by trees as they are replaced by other land. Already, this is increasing levels of
carbon in the atmosphere and bringing the carbon cycle away from its natural state of
equilibrium. As the soils from the forest are no longer covered by shade, they dry out and
many forests become barren deserts. This means no further vegetation can grow and less
carbon can be sequestered, enhancing the greenhouse effect. Understanding this feedback
loop means that we are able to understand the connection between our own actions and
climate change. Therefore, if we are to cut down the rate of deforestation, we could try to
reverse the effects of climate change and bring the carbon cycle back to equilibrium. There
is evidence of environmental laws being put into place in the Amazon in order to regulate
deforestation. One of these laws includes farmers only being able to use 20% of their land in
the rainforest as farmland. These laws and other agreements based on our understanding of
this positive feedback loop help with attempts to mitigate the impacts of climate change from
a local to a global scale.
If we understand the positive feedback cycle of the enhanced greenhouse effect, it can allow
us to create mitigation strategies in order to reverse the effects that it is having on the
climate. The enhanced greenhouse effect is where extra CO2 and other greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere cause radiative forcing due to human activity. This causes global
warming, which means there is more melting of ice and reduced snowfall in the polar
regions. This would create a large input of carbon into the atmosphere as the plants and
animal remains in the ice before are able to decay, which releases carbon dioxide through
decomposition. It will also continue in a positive feedback loop as ice melt increases sea
levels, therefore some areas around the world will experience more erosion and loss of land.
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