Water and carbon key facts and figures
Water on earth is estimated at 1.338 ×109 km 3
72% of planet’s surface is ocean/seas
rivers make up 0.0002% of earth’s water
Phytoplankton – hold 90% of ocean’s biomass and are sun harvesters
Water stays in atmosphere for about 10 days
90% of atmospheric water is from evaporation and 10% is from transpiration
Sea level rise of 32 cm by 2050
Global average sea level has increased by 24cm since 1880
Average sea temperature has increased by 0.6C in last 4 years
Tropical forests are the biggest interceptors (58% of rainfall), then needle leaves (22%), then
deciduous (19%)
If 50-100% of basin is deforested this has increased effect
afforestation – Great Green Wall in Africa -> 11 million trees across 11 countries,
tile drains - Ohio study showed farmers get a return of $1.20 to $1.90 for every $1 spent
Pre-1960s the sand aquifers were exploited for industrialisation and groundwater levels in
London fell to 88m bsl
Atmosphere – 750 GT
Hydrosphere – 38000 GT
Crust – 100 milion GT (ff= 4000)
Soil – 2500 GT
Plants – 560 GT
Cryosphere – 6 GT in Antarctica
3-4 million km2 burned every year releasing over 1 billion tonnes of carbon into atmosphere
as CO2
present day volcanoes have emitted less than 1% of the CO2 released by humans.
2% of Earth’s land is urbanised but these areas are responsible for 97% of anthropogenic
CO2
Industry – accounts for 23% of ghg emissions
Cement production –accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions
Transport – accounts for 25% of CO2 emission Motor vehicles accounted for 83% of CO2
transportation emissions in 2019.
Residential – 13% of 2021 ghg emissions
Oxford Uni found cutting meat and dairy products from your diet can reduce your footprint
by up to 70%.
each cow emits an average of 100kg of methane each year and accounts for 14% of all
human-induced ghg emissions
Sea forest supplement- feed supplement of which 0.5% of SeaFead can cut methane
emissions by up to 90%, can be grown on land or in the sea
Rice yield has increased 25% due to increase in CO2 in atmosphere but has caused 40%
increase in methane emissions
Forests absorb about 30% of the world’s carbon emissions each year
Deforestation contributed around 12% of annual ghg emissions
Humans have cleared 420 million hectares of forest since 1990
Forests are carbon sinks capable of holding 861 gigatons of carbon
2050 models project 0.5*C increase from 1986-2005 average
Water on earth is estimated at 1.338 ×109 km 3
72% of planet’s surface is ocean/seas
rivers make up 0.0002% of earth’s water
Phytoplankton – hold 90% of ocean’s biomass and are sun harvesters
Water stays in atmosphere for about 10 days
90% of atmospheric water is from evaporation and 10% is from transpiration
Sea level rise of 32 cm by 2050
Global average sea level has increased by 24cm since 1880
Average sea temperature has increased by 0.6C in last 4 years
Tropical forests are the biggest interceptors (58% of rainfall), then needle leaves (22%), then
deciduous (19%)
If 50-100% of basin is deforested this has increased effect
afforestation – Great Green Wall in Africa -> 11 million trees across 11 countries,
tile drains - Ohio study showed farmers get a return of $1.20 to $1.90 for every $1 spent
Pre-1960s the sand aquifers were exploited for industrialisation and groundwater levels in
London fell to 88m bsl
Atmosphere – 750 GT
Hydrosphere – 38000 GT
Crust – 100 milion GT (ff= 4000)
Soil – 2500 GT
Plants – 560 GT
Cryosphere – 6 GT in Antarctica
3-4 million km2 burned every year releasing over 1 billion tonnes of carbon into atmosphere
as CO2
present day volcanoes have emitted less than 1% of the CO2 released by humans.
2% of Earth’s land is urbanised but these areas are responsible for 97% of anthropogenic
CO2
Industry – accounts for 23% of ghg emissions
Cement production –accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions
Transport – accounts for 25% of CO2 emission Motor vehicles accounted for 83% of CO2
transportation emissions in 2019.
Residential – 13% of 2021 ghg emissions
Oxford Uni found cutting meat and dairy products from your diet can reduce your footprint
by up to 70%.
each cow emits an average of 100kg of methane each year and accounts for 14% of all
human-induced ghg emissions
Sea forest supplement- feed supplement of which 0.5% of SeaFead can cut methane
emissions by up to 90%, can be grown on land or in the sea
Rice yield has increased 25% due to increase in CO2 in atmosphere but has caused 40%
increase in methane emissions
Forests absorb about 30% of the world’s carbon emissions each year
Deforestation contributed around 12% of annual ghg emissions
Humans have cleared 420 million hectares of forest since 1990
Forests are carbon sinks capable of holding 861 gigatons of carbon
2050 models project 0.5*C increase from 1986-2005 average
