how much carbon dioxide emissions are anually put into the atmosphere?

Answer 1

Man emits about 10 billion metric tons a year. To understand the significance of that, you need to understand the natural "carbon cycle" and the impact we're having on it.

There are a great many natural sources and sinks for carbon dioxide. But the present global warming is (mostly) the result of man made CO2 from burning fossil fuels.

There is a natural "carbon cycle" that recycles CO2. But it's a delicate balance and we're messing it up.

Look at this graph.

http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/graphics_gallery/mauna_loa_record/mlo_record.html

The little squiggles are nature doing its' thing. CO2 falls a bit during summer when plants are active, and rises during the winter. The huge increase is us, burning fossil fuels (in addition to the shape of the graph, the increase numerically matches the increase in fossil fuel use; an unlikely coincidence). The natural carbon cycle buried carbon in fossil fuels over a very long time, little bit by little bit. We dig them up and burn them, real fast. That's a problem.

Man is upsetting the balance of nature. We need to fix that.

Answer 2

I do not know the exact numbers but I can give it to you in percentages of the atmosphere. CO2 makes up less than half of 1% of the atmosphere. Humans only account for 5% of CO2 output. Can 5% of less have 0.5% of the atmosphere really change the temperature of the entire planet?

Answer 3

Comparison of CO2 emissions from volcanoes vs. human activities.
Scientists have calculated that volcanoes emit between about 130-230 million tonnes (145-255 million tons) of CO2 into the atmosphere every year (Gerlach, 1999, 1992). This estimate includes both subaerial and submarine volcanoes, about in equal amounts. Emissions of CO2 by human activities, including fossil fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring, amount to about 22 billion tonnes per year (24 billion tons) [ ( Marland, et al., 1998) - The reference gives the amount of released carbon ©, rather than CO2.]. Human activities release more than 150 times the amount of CO2 emitted by volcanoes--the equivalent of nearly 17,000 additional volcanoes like Kilauea (Kilauea emits about 13.2 million tonnes/year)!

Here's some statistics for you. Volcanoes, hot springs, the ocean itself and other natural objects contribute about 200 billion tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere anually.
We humans contribute about 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide ourselves. And all of this CO2 is being absorbed by plants, natural chemical processes, plankton, coral, and other natural phenomena. Also, we started putting out less harmful emissions about 30 years ago. Besides, science contradicts itself by saying that we are just recently exiting an ice age. It's good that we should use "greener" technology, but we're doing it for all the wrong reasons.

Answer 4

The fastest way carbon is emmitted into the atmosphere is via combustion f hydrocarbon and bush burning.THe annual carbon content can not be estimated as different activity occur in different place at once.

Answer 5

http://www.theabsurdreport.com/2007/fun-facts-about-carbon-dioxide/