How much CO2 is released each year by natural factors compared to human CO2 emissions?

Answer 1

The carbon cycle was more or less in balance before humans started burning fossil fuels. Meaning whatever was released ended up getting absorbed somewhere else.

The link below shows it as approximately 210 Gt of natural released carbon being swapped around annually.

It also shows ~5.4 Gt (in the 1980s) and ~6.3 Gt (1990s) released into the atmosphere, divide those numbers by 10 and you should get the # of Gt of anthropogenic carbon released per year.

I'm pretty sure that Gt is a gigatonne (see wikipedia link below).

Answer 2

A volcano produces as much CO2 in an eruption as man does in a week. There are 100+ active volcanoes. A large forest fire (there are dozens each year in the U.S.A. alone) burns more fuel and produces more CO2 than all the cars in the U.S. do in a couple weeks (think of all the acres of trees burned). I can't give you Gt, but I know from research done by many scientists. Man's fossil fuel burning may have helped increased CO2 levels, but nature's CO2 production still exceeds man's production. Besides, an increase in CO2 levels doesn't mean global warming or even slightly warmer temperatures. When CO2 levels began increasing in 1920, nothing happend to temperature. Since 1920, the CO2 concentration in ppm (parts per million) has increased by about 30 ppm (probably), but the average temp has not increased. People worry so much about CO2 and global warming, when the sun is the thing we need to worry about. When we get a little closer to the sun as we orbit, global average temps go up, and return to normal as we continue orbiting.

Answer 3

every living creature exhales CO2. Green plants breath in the CO2 and exhales O2
MORAL of the story go mow your yard and cut down on the conversion of CO2 into O2

Answer 4

I thought hunan emmissions were Methane based . . . . . :-)