Sl. No. Topic Page No.

1. Global Change 01
1.1 Main factors of global changes 01
1.2 Types of Global Changes 02
1.3 Causes of Global Changes 02
2 Global carbon cycle 02
3 Climate change 03
3.1 Causes of Climate changes 04
3.2 Greenhouse gases 04
3.3 Causes for rising emissions 05
3.4 Global warming 05
3.5 Impact of climate change 05-06
4 Global Circulation Model 06-09
4.1 Global Carbon Box Model 09-10
5 Nitrogen Cycle 10-12
6 Sulfur cycle 12
6.1 Steps of Sulfur Cycle 12-13
6.2 Significance of Sulfur Cycle 14
6.3 Human impacts on the Sulfur Cycle 14

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 1. Global change
Global change” means changes in the global environment (including alterations in climate, land
productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems)
that may alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life. “

Global change in broad sense refers to planetary-scale changes in the Earth system. It is most
commonly use to encompass the variety of changes connected to the rapid increase in human
activities which started around mid-20th century, i.e. the Great Acceleration. While the concept
stems from research on the climate change, it is used to adopt a more holistic view on the
observed changes. Global change refers to the changes of the Earth system, treated in its entirety
with interacting

Global change describes major alterations to Earth, such as warming of the Earth's climate.
Climate change, however, is not the only possible form of a global change: other examples can
extend to biodiversity loss, changes in the water cycle or nutrient cycles, alterations of
landscapes, and more.

1.1 Main factors of global changes

a) Human population growth and consumption: Population growth increases food
demand and therefore the demand for agricultural land. Resource use, waste production
and environmental degradation are accelerated by population growth. They are further
exacerbated by consumption habits, certain technological developments, and particular
patterns of social organization and resource management.
b) Energy use: Globally, the use of energy represents by far the largest source of
greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. For example, changes to the water cycle
have an impact on hydropower, and warmer temperatures increase the energy demand for
cooling in the summer, while decreasing the demand for heating in the winter.
c) Land use changes: Land-use change is responsible for increases in the human
population, deforestation, food types, and demand for energy and fiber. Land-use impacts
climate through deforestation and rapid population growth, whereas climate change
impacts land use through unpredictable heavy rainfall and increasing temperature.
d) Pollution: is caused by a blanket of pollution that traps heat around the earth. This
pollution comes from cars, factories, homes, and power plants that burn fossil fuels such
as oil, coal, natural gas, and gasoline. Global warming pollution knows no boundaries.
Ambient air pollution accounts for an estimated 4.2 million deaths per year due to stroke,
heart disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. Around 91% of the world's
population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits.

1.2 Types of Global Changes

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 a) Systemic changes: That operate globally through the major systems of the geosphere-
biosphere
b) Cumulative changes: That represent the global accumulation of localized changes.

1.3 Causes of Global Changes

Human causes

 Agricultural activities.
 Burning of fossil fuels.
 Deforestation / reforestation.
 Fishing and hunting.
 Freshwater use.
 Habitat loss / restoration.
 Innovation.
 Invasive species

Natural causes
 volcanic eruptions
 ocean currents
 the Earth's orbital changes
 solar variations and
 internal variability.
2. Global carbon cycle
The global carbon cycle refers to the exchanges of carbon within and between four major
reservoirs: the atmosphere, the oceans, land, and fossil fuels. ... Second, the cycling of carbon
approximates the flows of energy around the Earth, the metabolism of natural, human, and
industrial systems.

The carbon cycle describes the process in which carbon atoms continually travel from the
atmosphere to the Earth and then back into the atmosphere. ... Carbon is released back into the
atmosphere when organisms die, volcanoes erupt, fires blaze, fossil fuels are burned, and through
a variety of other mechanisms.

Carbon cycle shows the movement of carbon in elemental and combined states on earth.
Diamond and graphite are the elemental forms of carbon and in combined state, it is found as
carbonates in minerals and as carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere.

There are six main processes in the carbon cycle:

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  Photosynthesis
 Respiration
 Exchange
 Sedimentation
 Extraction
 combustion.
3. Climate change
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may
be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change,
primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas), which produces heat-trapping
gases. Contemporary climate change includes both global warming and its impacts on Earth's
weather patterns. ... As the planet heats up it causes changes like the loss of sunlight-reflecting
snow cover, amplifying global warming. On land, temperatures have risen about twice as fast as
the global average.

Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define
Earth's local, regional and global climate. These human-produced temperature increases are
commonly referred to as global warming.

Climate change refers to significant, long-term changes in the global climate.

The global climate is the connected system of sun, earth and oceans, wind, rain and snow,
forests, deserts and savannas, and everything people do, too. The climate of a place, say New
York, can be described as its rainfall, changing temperatures during the year and so on.

But the global climate is more than the “average” of the climates of specific places.

A description of the global climate includes how, for example, the rising temperature of the
Pacific feeds typhoons which blow harder, drop more rain and cause more damage, but also
shifts global ocean currents that melt Antarctica ice which slowly makes sea level rise until New
York will be under water.

It is this systemic connectedness that makes global climate change so important and so
complicated.

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 Fig.1. (Source: US Environmental Protection Agency)

3.1 Causes of Climate changes

Natural causes
 volcanic eruptions
 ocean currents
 the Earth's orbital changes
 solar variations and
 internal variability

Human causes:
Humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth's temperature by burning fossil
fuels, cutting down forests and farming livestock.

This adds enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere,
increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming.

3.2 Greenhouse gases

The main driver of climate change is the greenhouse effect. Some gases in the Earth's
atmosphere act a bit like the glass in a greenhouse, trapping the sun's heat and stopping it from
leaking back into space and causing global warming.

Many of these greenhouse gases occur naturally, but human activity is increasing the
concentrations of some of them in the atmosphere, in particular:

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  carbon dioxide (CO2)

 methane

 nitrous oxide

 fluorinated gases

CO2 produced by human activities is the largest contributor to global warming. By 2020, its
concentration in the atmosphere had risen to 48% above its pre-industrial level (before 1750).

Other greenhouse gases are emitted by human activity in smaller quantities. Methane is a more
powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, but has a shorter atmospheric lifetime. Nitrous oxide, like
CO2, is a long-lived greenhouse gas that accumulates in the atmosphere over decades to
centuries.

Natural causes, such as changes in solar radiation or volcanic activity are estimated to have
contributed less than plus or minus 0.1°C to total warming between 1890 and 2010.

3.3 Causes for rising emissions

 Burning coal, oil and gas produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

 Cutting down forests (deforestation). Trees help to regulate the climate by absorbing
CO2 from the atmosphere. When they are cut down, that beneficial effect is lost and the
carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect.
 Increasing livestock farming. Cows and sheep produce large amounts of methane when
they digest their food.
 Fertilizers containing nitrogen produce nitrous oxide emissions.
 Fluorinated gases are emitted from equipment and products that use these gases. Such
emissions have a very strong warming effect, up to 23 000 times greater than CO2.

3.4 Global warming

2011-2020 was the warmest decade recorded, with global average temperature reaching 1.1°C
above pre-industrial levels in 2019. Human-induced global warming is presently increasing at a
rate of 0.2°C per decade.

An increase of 2°C compared to the temperature in pre-industrial times is associated with serious
negative impacts on to the natural environment and human health and wellbeing, including a
much higher risk that dangerous and possibly catastrophic changes in the global environment
will occur.

For this reason, the international community has recognized the need to keep warming well
below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

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3.5 Impact of climate change: These climatic changes have a negative impact on the
environment. The ocean level is rising, glaciers are melting, CO2 in the air is increasing, forest
and wildlife are declining, and water life is also getting disturbed due to climatic changes.

 Rising maximum temperatures: Earth's temperature has risen by 0.14° F (0.08° C) per
decade since 1880, and the rate of warming over the past 40 years is more than twice that:
0.32° F (0.18° C) per decade since 1981. 2020 was the second-warmest year on record
based on NOAA's temperature data, and land areas were record warm. Concentrations of
the key greenhouse gases have all increased since the Industrial Revolution due to
human activities. These greenhouse gas emissions have increased the greenhouse effect
and caused the earth's surface temperature to rise. Burning fossil fuels changes the
climate more than any other human activity.

 Rising minimum temperatures: Rising minimum temperatures. rising sea levels. higher
ocean temperatures. an increase in heavy precipitation .A rise in minimum
temperature during the entire crop season is likely to influence crop production through
factors such as increased respiration.

 Rising sea levels: The two major causes of global sea level rise are thermal expansion
caused by warming of the ocean (since water expands as it warms) and increased melting
of land-based ice, such as glaciers and ice sheets. ... In urban settings, rising seas threaten
infrastructure necessary for local jobs and regional industries. he report projects that sea
levels will rise an average of 10 to 12 inches by 2050, which is about as much as the
increase during the 100 years from 1920 to 2020.

 Higher ocean temperatures: Currently, oceans absorb more than 90% of the heat that is
trapped in the atmosphere from increasing levels of greenhouse gases, which raises the
temperature of the water at the sea surface. Sea surface temperature increased during
the 20th century and continues to rise. From 1901 through 2020, temperature rose at an
average rate of 0.14°F per decade

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 Fig.2. Change in sea surface temperature (ºF)

 Increase in heavy precipitation (heavy rain and hail): Climate change can affect the
intensity and frequency of precipitation. Warmer oceans increase the amount of water
that evaporates into the air. When more moisture-laden air moves over land or converges
into a storm system, it can produce more intense precipitation—for example, heavier rain
and snow storms.

 Shrinking glaciers: Glaciers in the Garhwal Himalaya in India are retreating so fast that
researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could virtually
disappear by 2035. Arctic sea ice has thinned significantly over the past half century, and
its extent has declined by about 10 percent in the past 30 years.

 Thawing permafrost: As Earth's climate warms, the permafrost is thawing. That means the
ice inside the permafrost melts, leaving behind water and soil. As permafrost thaws, microbes
begin decomposing this material. This process releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
and methane to the atmosphere.

4. Global Circulation Model

The global circulation can be described as the world-wide system of winds by which the
necessary transport of heat from tropical to polar latitudes is accomplished. In each hemisphere
there are three cells (Hadley cell, Ferrel cell and Polar cell) in which air circulates through the
entire depth of the troposphere.

The global atmospheric circulation model is a simplified version of how air currents in the
atmosphere move. It is used to help explain weather patterns and climatic regions. The global
atmospheric circulation model is based around cells. These cells are regions where the air moves
from low pressure to high pressure.

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A global climate model (GCM) is a complex mathematical representation of the major climate
system components (atmosphere, land surface, ocean, and sea ice), and their interactions. Earth's
energy balance between the four components is the key to long-term climate prediction.

Fig.3. Structure of Atmospheric Global Circulation Model

Grid
The fluid equations for AGCMs are made discrete using either the finite difference method or
the spectral method. For finite differences, a grid is imposed on the atmosphere. The simplest
grid uses constant angular grid spacing (i.e., a latitude / longitude grid). However, non-
rectangular grids (e.g., icosahedral) and grids of variable resolution are more often used. The
LMDz model can be arranged to give high resolution over any given section of the
planet. HadGEM1 (and other ocean models) use an ocean grid with higher resolution in the
tropics to help resolve processes believed to be important for the El Niño Southern Oscillation
(ENSO). Spectral models generally use a Gaussian grid because of the mathematics of
transformation between spectral and grid-point space. Typical AGCM resolutions are between 1
and 5 degrees in latitude or longitude: HadCM3, for example, uses 3.75 in longitude and 2.5
degrees in latitude, giving a grid of 96 by 73 points (96 x 72 for some variables); and has 19
vertical levels.

Flux buffering

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Some early versions of AOGCMs required an ad hoc process of "flux correction" to achieve a
stable climate. This resulted from separately prepared ocean and atmospheric models that each
used an implicit flux from the other component different than that component could produce.
Such a model failed to match observations. However, if the fluxes were 'corrected', the factors
that led to these unrealistic fluxes might be unrecognised, which could affect model sensitivity.
As a result, the vast majority of models used in the current round of IPCC reports do not use
them. The model improvements that now make flux corrections unnecessary include improved
ocean physics, improved resolution in both atmosphere and ocean, and more physically
consistent coupling between atmosphere and ocean submodels

Convection
Moist convection releases latent heat and is important to the Earth's energy budget. Convection
occurs on too small a scale to be resolved by climate models, and hence it must be handled via
parameters. This has been done since the 1950s. Akio Arakawa did much of the early work, and
variants of his scheme are still used, although a variety of different schemes are now in use.

Software
Most models include software to diagnose a wide range of variables for comparison with
observations or study of atmospheric processes. An example is the 2-metre temperature, which is
the standard height for near-surface observations of air temperature. This temperature is not
directly predicted from the model but is deduced from surface and lowest-model-layer
temperatures.

4.1 Global Carbon Box Model

The global carbon cycle model describes the evolution of the mass of carbon in the mantle, Cm,
in the combined reservoir consisting of ocean and atmosphere. In this condition, the residence
time is the reservoir size divided by the input flux (or the output flux). Hence, the carbon cycle
can be represented in a simplified manner by various reservoirs which exchange certain amounts
of carbon at certain rates. This representation of the carbon cycle is called a box model. At its
simplest, a carbon model shows the quantity of each material used in a project and multiplies that
by that material's emission factor to calculate a carbon footprint. We should also be able to
quantify how much carbon flows in (input flux) and how much flows out (output flux), and how
much time on average it stays in the atmosphere (residence time). The atmosphere is one
reservoir of carbon but we need to identify the other reservoirs and describe how carbon moves
from one to another. An obvious reservoir of carbon is the biosphere. Carbon atoms are essential
for life because they form the backbones of large organic molecules. Other important reservoirs
of carbon are the oceans, carbonate rocks (mainly those composed of calcium carbonate, i.e.
CaCO3), and fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas). In any of these reservoirs, the amount of carbon
(reservoir size) has fluctuated over geological times. When there is a natural balance between

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what enters and leaves each reservoir, the system is said to be in a steady state. It means that for
any given reservoir the input flux is equal to the output flux (often expressed in gigaton per year
or Gt/yr) and the reservoir size remains constant. In this condition, the residence time is the
reservoir size divided by the input flux (or the output flux). Hence, the carbon cycle can be
represented in a simplified manner by various reservoirs which exchange certain amounts of
carbon at certain rates. This representation of the carbon cycle is called a box model. The carbon
cycle is one example of biogeochemical cycles that can be represented using a box model

Fig.4. Carbon Cycle

If we examine the figure above and examine the fluxes of carbon from one reservoir to another,
several interesting observations can be made: -

o Most carbon is stored in the reservoir “carbonate rocks”.

o The largest fluxes of carbon are between the land surface (plants and soils) and
the atmosphere and between the atmosphere and the ocean (“fast domain”).
o Soils store three times as much carbon as plants.
o The smallest fluxes are related to calcium carbonate deposition in the ocean,
calcium carbonate dissolution and weathering of silicate rocks, volcanism, and
carbon fluxes in and out of the fossil fuel reservoir (“slow domain”).
o The residence time of carbon in the atmosphere is very short (3.5 years) whereas
in carbonate rocks the residence time is very long (6x108 years).

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Land surface (plants, soils) ↔ atmosphere
The greatest flux of carbon is the exchange of carbon between the terrestrial biosphere and the
atmosphere. This involves primarily plant photosynthesis (I), cellular respiration (II), and the
decomposition of organic matter by microbes (III). During photosynthesis, plants take CO2 from
the atmosphere to build organic molecules using sunlight as a source of energy.

Photosynthesis

6H2O+6CO2+sunlight →C6H12O6+6O2……..I

Cellular respiration

C6H12O6+6O2→6H2O+6CO2+energy……..Ⅱ

Decomposition of organic matters by microbes

a) Aerobic

C6H12O6+6O2→6H2O+6CO2+energy…..III

b) Anaerobic
Organic matter→Acetate→ CO2+CH4
5. Nitrogen Cycle
The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple
chemical forms as it circulates among atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. ...
Important processes in the nitrogen cycle include fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and
denitrification.

Nitrogen cycle, circulation of nitrogen in various forms through nature. Nitrogen, a component
of proteins and nucleic acids, is essential to life on Earth. Although 78 percent by volume of
the atmosphere is nitrogen gas, this abundant reservoir exists in a form unusable by most
organisms. Through a series of microbial transformations, however, nitrogen is made available
to plants, which in turn ultimately sustain all animal life. The steps, which are not altogether
sequential, fall into the following classifications: nitrogenfixation, nitrogen assimilation,
ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification.

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 Fig.5. Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen fixation, in which nitrogen gas is converted into inorganic nitrogen compounds, is
mostly (90 percent) accomplished by certain bacteria and blue-green algae. A much smaller
amount of free nitrogen is fixed by abiotic means (e.g., lightning, ultraviolet radiation, electrical
equipment) and by conversion to ammonia through the Haber-Bosch process.

Nitrates and ammonia resulting from nitrogen fixation are assimilated into the
specific tissue compounds of algae and higher plants. Animals then ingest these algae and plants,
converting them into their own body compounds.

The remains of all living things—and their waste products—are decomposed by microorganisms
in the process of ammonification, which yields ammonia (NH 3) and ammonium (NH4+). (Under
anaerobic, or oxygen-free, conditions, foul-smelling putrefactive products may appear, but they
too are converted to ammonia in time.) Ammonia can leave the soil or be converted into other
nitrogen compounds, depending in part on soil conditions.

Nitrification, a process carried out by nitrifying bacteria, transforms soil ammonia

into nitrates (NO3−), which plants can incorporate into their own tissues.

Nitrates also are metabolized by denitrifying bacteria, which are especially active in water-
logged anaerobic soils. The action of these bacteria tends to deplete soil nitrates, forming free
atmospheric nitrogen.

6. Sulfur cycle
The sulfur cycle is a biogeochemical cycle in which the sulfur moves between rocks, waterways
and living systems. The global sulfur cycle involves the transformations of sulfur species through
different oxidation states, which play an important role in both geological and biological
processes.

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Sulfur cycle, circulation of sulfur in various forms through nature. Sulfur occurs in all living
matter as a component of certain amino acids. It is abundant in the soil in proteins and, through a
series of microbial transformations, ends up as sulfates usable by plants.

Sulfur-containing proteins are degraded into their constituent amino acids by the action of a
variety of soil organisms. The sulfur of the amino acids is converted to hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
by another series of soil microbes. In the presence of oxygen, H 2S is converted to sulfur and then
to sulfate by sulfur bacteria. Eventually the sulfate becomes H2S.

Hydrogen sulfide rapidly oxidizes to gases that dissolve in water to form sulfurous and sulfuric
acids. These compounds contribute in large part to the “acid rain” that can kill sensitive aquatic
organisms and damage marble monuments and stone buildings.

Fig.6. Sulfur Cycle

6.1 Steps of Sulfur Cycle

 Decomposition of Organic Compounds. Protein degradation releases amino acids that
contain sulfur. ...

 Oxidation of Hydrogen Sulphide to Elemental Sulphur. Hydrogen sulphide oxidises to

produce elemental sulphur. ...

 Oxidation of Elemental Sulphur. ...

 Reduction of Sulphates.

6.2 Significance of Sulfur Cycle

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  Sulfur is an essential element that is an important component of biomolecules like
proteins and nucleic acids. Thus, the understanding of the sulfur cycle enables the
understanding of the biomolecules and their functions.
 The sulfur cycle is essential as it balances the concentration of sulfur in different
reservoirs so as to make the Earth a hospitable place for life.
 Sulfur is found in nature in a combined state with other elements like nitrogen, iron, and
phosphorus, so the sulfur cycle also affects the availability of other elements.
 Sulfur bacteria are chemoautotrophic organisms that can convert the chemical energy into
other forms through the food chain, which increases the biomass on the planet.
 Mineralization of sulfur acts as a natural waste system where helps in the recycling of
sulfur compounds.
 Biological processes occurring in the terrestrial ecosystem in the sulfur cycle are
responsible for increasing the availability of sulfur to plants and microorganisms.
 Understanding the mechanism of the sulfur cycle helps to understand the physiology of
different microorganisms involved in the process.
 The sulfur metabolic pathways in various bacteria have important medical implications as
some of the pathogenic microorganisms like Mycobacterium tuberculosis utilize sulfur as
a source of energy.

6.3 Human impacts on the Sulfur Cycle

 The burning of fossil fuels and other forms of combustion increases the concentration of
SO2 in the atmosphere, which brings about some imbalance in the sulfur concentration
on Earth.
 The addition of artificial fertilizers to the soil can affect soil fertility, plant growth, and
microbial activities in the soil.
 Petroleum refining and industrial processing also cause the release of sulfuric acid and
sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.
 Sulfur dioxide causes an increase in the Earth’s temperature as the gas droplets increase
the particles in clouds. The increase of sulfur dioxide in clouds increases the extent of
acid rain on Earth.
Industrial society, along with a rapidly rising world population and increasing mechanization of
agriculture and forestry, modifies extensive areas of previously undisturbed landscape which
then alter the terrestrial biosphere

7. Reference

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Ollila, A. (2015). Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) amounts and fluxes between the
atmosphere, the ocean and the biosphere. Physical Science International Journal, 8(1), 1-
17.

Kertesz, M. A., & Frossard, E. (2015). Biological Cycling of Inorganic Nutrients and Metals in
Soils and Their Role in Soil Biogeochemistry. Soil Microbiology, Ecology and
Biochemistry, 471–503.DOI:10.1016/b978-0-12-415955-6.00016-5

Klotz MG, Bryant DA, Hanson TE. The microbial sulfur cycle. Front Microbiol. 2011;2:241.
Published 2011 Dec 2. DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2011.00241

Kelly DP. The sulphur cycle: definitions, mechanisms and dynamics. Ciba Found Symp. 1979;
(72):3-18. DOI: 10.1002/9780470720554.ch2. PMID: 398766.

Muyzer, G., Stams, A. The ecology and biotechnology of sulphate-reducing bacteria. Nat Rev
Microbiol6, 441–454 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1892.

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