Article 243 - The Human Effects on the Natural Cycles of the Earth.

The Human Effects on the Natural Cycles of the Earth.

Theory

This essay proposes that humans are having an effect on the natural cycles of the Earth.

Definitions

In the scope of this essay. ‘Natural Cycles’ refers to the Carbon, Water, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Hydrogen and Sulphur Cycles of the Earth.

Method

For each of the Cycles the tonnage, natural reserves in tons, human production in tons, duration of reserves in years, end year of reserves, peak year of reserves, natural flux in tons per year, duration of fast cycle life forms in years rate and duration of slow cycle geological in years rate are calculated.

Conclusions are then drawn.

Data is set out in a spread sheet attached to this essay.

References are included in the spread sheet and at the end of this essay.

Conclusions

Carbon Cycle

The Earth has 8E+16 tons of Carbon that it processes in 200,000,000 years at a slow process rate of 400,000,000 tons per year.

Humans are outputting 5.8E+17 tons of Carbon per year. 7.25 times the fast process rate of the Earth.

Humans are outputting 5.8E+17 tons of Carbon per year. 1,450,000,000 times the slow process rate of the Earth.

Humans are altering the natural Carbon Cycle of the Earth

Water Cycle

The Earth has 1.4E+18 tons of Water that it processes at a fast rate of 1e+18 tons per year.

The Earth has 1.4E+18 tons of Water that it processes at a slow rate of 1.1e+14 tons per year over 1.3+04 years.

Humans are withdrawing water at a rate of 4e+15 tons per year.

This allows for a duration of supply of 26 years with the 2017 population.

This creates an end date of 2044 for the current level of water withdrawl.

This end date decreases as the withdrawl rates increase and the populations increase.

Humans are withdrawing water at 37 times the Earth slow process rate per year.

Humans are altering the natural Water Cycle of the Earth.

Phosphorus Cycle

The Earth has 6e+10 tons of Phosphorus that it can process at a fast rate of 9.0e+5 tons per year fully over 80,000 years.

The Earth has 6e+10 tons of Phosphorus that it can process at a slow rate of 7.0e+5 tons per year fully over 100,000 years.

Humans are using 5.3e+8 tons of Phosphorus per year. 589 times the fast process rate and 757

times the slow process rate of the Earth.

Human production of Phosphorus has reduced the duration of natural reserves to 261 years.

This creates and end date of 2278 for the current level of phosphorus production.

This creates a peak date of 2147 for the current level of phosphorus production.

Humans are altering the natural Phosphorus Cycle of the Earth.

Nitrogen Cycle

The Earth has 8e+15 tons of Nitrogen that it can process at a fast rate of 4e+8 tons per year fully over 1,988,072 years.

The Earth has 8e+15 tons of Nitrogen that it can process at a fast rate of 8e+8 tons per year fully over 10,000,000 years.

Humans are increasing nitrogen release into the atmosphere at 48% of the fast process rate / year of the Earth.

Humans are increasing the nitrogen release into the atmosphere at 24% of the slow process rate / year of the Earth.

Humans are altering the natural Nitrogen Cycle of the Earth.

Hydrogen Cycle

The Earth has 4.5e+27 tons of Hydrogen that it can process at a rate of 5.5e+26 tons per year fully over 8 years.

The reserves of Hydrogen are limitless and only restrained by the lifespan of the Earth

The Hydrogen Cycle is less easy to define due to the abundance of the element in the universe and the short rate of process through the atmosphere of the Earth.

Sulphur Cycle

The Earth has 1.6e+26 tons of Sulphur that it can process at a fast rate of 1.0e+28 tons per year fully over 1.6e-2 years.

The Earth has 1.6e+26 tons of Sulphur that it can process at a slow rate of 130,000,000 tons per year fully over 1.0e+18 years.

Humans are using 6.9e+7 tons of Sulphur per year. This is within the Earths fast and slow process rates. However the extraction of Sulphur causes environmental depletion that is linked to fossil fuel use.

The reserves of Sulphur are limitless and only restrained by the lifespan of the Earth.

Humans are altering the natural Sulphur Cycle of the Earth.

Human depletion of global environments, resources and energy; linked to fossil fuels, agriculture, fertilizers, burning, land clearance and population growth; is exceeding and so changing the natural cycles of the Earth and so assisting in climate change.

Humans are altering the natural Carbon, Water, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Sulphur cycles of the Earth through their current use of environment, resources and energy.

References

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle Source:https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/page3.php

Source:https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/page2.php

Source:https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC

Source:https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html

Source:Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick (editor), 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, New York).

Source:http://www.worldometers.info/water/

Source:UN-Water Statistics - Water Resources 2013

Source:http://www.worldometers.info/water/

Source:For population increase rate:https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf

Source:World population prospects key findings and advance tables United Nations 2017

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus#Estimates_of_world_phosphate_reserves

Source:http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsUK/statistics/worldStatistics.html

Source:https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/phosphorus-cycle years of Cycle

Source:(Froelich et al., 1982; Ruttenberg, 1993; Delaney, 1998; Benitez-Nelson, 2000). Years of cycle

Source:https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/biogeochemical-cycles/a/the-phosphorous-cycle Sedimaenatry uplift time slow cycle timeSource:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#Physical_properties

Source:http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/Fundamentals/AtmosphereCompIX.pdf residence time of nitrogen in atmosphere

Source:https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tg

Source:https://www.convertunits.com/from/Tg/to/metric+ton

Source:https://www.princeton.edu/nitrogen/publications/pdfs/Ward_2013_globalcycle.pdf mass in Tg in resevoirs on earth and atmosphere and Flux rate / year.

Source:http://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1130447042&topicorder=2&maxto=8http://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?

Source:https://www.esa.org/esa/documents/2013/03/issues-in-ecology-issue-1.pdf Nitrogen fixation on land total/year.

Source:https://www.esa.org/esa/documents/2013/03/issues-in-ecology-issue-1.pdf Nitrogen Fertilizer fixation on land total/year.

Source:https://www.esa.org/esa/documents/2013/03/issues-in-ecology-issue-1.pdf Nitrogen fixing Crops on land total/year.

Source:https://www.esa.org/esa/documents/2013/03/issues-in-ecology-issue-1.pdf Fossil Fuel Burning total/year.

Source:https://www.esa.org/esa/documents/2013/03/issues-in-ecology-issue-1.pdf Burning

Source:https://www.esa.org/esa/documents/2013/03/issues-in-ecology-issue-1.pdf Fossil Fuel Draining total/year.

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_mass

Source:http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/Fundamentals/AtmosphereCompIX.pdf

Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeH-f-cmCkc Sulphur Cycle Mosser AP Environmental Science

Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX77iBEPizQThe Sulfur Cycle

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elements#Earth

Source:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27789839 Dissolved organic sulfur in the ocean: Biogeochemistry of a petagram inventory. Authors as noted.

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#Production

Source:http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsUK/statistics/worldStatistics.html Reserves of Sulphur ore

Source:https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/sulfur-cycle Flux of sulphur per year

Source:P.A. Loka Bharathi, in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008 Fluxes of the Global Biogeochemical Sulfur Cycle

Data

Ian K Whittaker

Websites:

https://sites.google.com/site/architecturearticles

Email: iankwhittaker@gmail.com

24/02/2018

14/10/2020

1055 words over 3 pages