e-NEWS November 2008

Upcoming Meetings

First Planning Workshop for the next U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan
17-18 November 2008, The Heinz Center, 900 17th Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C.
To revise and develop new science questions and plans for the next decade (2011-2020) Background Material: U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan by Jorge Samiento and Steven Wofsy (1999) Working Group Co-Leaders: Anna Michalak, Gregg Marland, Rob Jackson, Chris Sabine Participation: Invitation only Contact: Roger B Hanson
Africa and Carbon Cycle: the CarboAfrica project
25-27 November 2008, Accra, Ghana
Conference aims are (i) present activities and results of the first 2 years of CarboAfrica implementation, (ii) present the state of the art of African researches in the field of carbon and other GHGs in Africa, and in particular relevant to CarboAfrica, and iii) promote linkages between the scientific community and African institutions. Website: http://www.carboafrica.net/seminars_en.asp
U.S. Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group
9-10 December 2008, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA
Participation: Invitation only Contact: Roger B Hanson, Website: http://www.carboncyclescience.gov
Biogeosciences Section, Fall AGU
14-19 December 2008, San Francisco
Multiple sessions on the carbon cycle. Website: http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm08/ Contacts: Mariah Carbone, Rodrigo Vargas
Earth Explorer User Consultation Meeting (including A-SCOPE and BIOMASS)
20-21 January 2009, Belém Cultural Centre, Lisbon, Portugal
A critical input to the decision making process which will lead to a recommendation on what mission candidates to select for feasibility studies. The six candidate missions are: A-SCOPE, BIOMASS, COREH20, FLEX, PREMIER, TRAQ. Website: http://www.congrex.nl/09c01/ Contact: Stephen Plummer
Full Radiative Forcing of Forests
27-29 January 2009, Santa Barbara, California
Linking carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems with other climate forcing agents: A synthesis allowing for effective carbon dioxide stabilization policies Scoping Paper (pdf, 35Kb) Contact: Jim Randerson, Rob Jackson, Pep Canadell
Realizing Low Carbon Cities: Bridging science and policy
16 February, 2009, Nagoya, Japan
For more information: agenda (pdf, 738Kb) Contact: Shobhakar Dhakal
Towards Low Carbon Cities: Understanding and analyzing urban energy and carbon
17-18 February, 2009, Nagoya, Japan
For more information: agenda (pdf, 738Kb) Contact: Shobhakar Dhakal
North American Carbon Program All Investigators Meeting
17-20 February 2009, San Diego, CA
Participation: Open to anyone interested in the carbon cycle of North America Contact: Peter Griffith Website: http://www.nacarbon.org/meeting_2009/
Climate Change and Ocean Acidification (at the 11th Pacific Science Inter-Congress)
2-6 March 2009, Tahiti
This is one of the five sub-themes of the conference. The aim is two fold: (1) Describe and assess the variability of climate, past and future, in the context of the present greenhouse effect. (2) Document the extent, magnitude and future trajectory of ocean acidification in the Pacific region, its impact on marine organisms and ecosystems, and its potential socio-economic implications. Co-chair: Julie Cole and Jean-Pierre Gattuso (gattuso@obs-vlfr.fr) For more information: http://www.psi2009.pf (Inter-Congress website)
8th Scientific Steering Committee Meeting of the Global Carbon Project
6-9 March 2009, Lund, Sweden
Contact: Pep Canadell , Shobhakar Dhakal
International Scientific Congress on Climate Change (IARU)
10-12 March 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
The purpose of the congress is to try and capture some of the enormous research energy currently being devoted to the elucidation, mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Multiple sessions on the carbon cycle. Organised by the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) Website: http://climatecongress.ku.dk/
European Geosciences Union General Assembly
19–24 April 2009, Vienna, Austria
Multiple sessions on the carbon cycle. Website: http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2009/
8th International Carbon Dioxide Conference
13-19 September 2009, Jena, Germany
Website: http://www.conventus.de/icdc8/ Contact: Martin Heiman
Peatlands in the Global Carbon Cycle ( The 2nd International Symposium )
25-30 September 2009, Prague, Czech Republic
Website: http://www.peatnet.siu.edu/CC09MainPage.html
CarboOcean Final Conference
5-9 October 2009, Bergen, Norway
Contact: Christoph Heinze
*Carbon Cycling in Tropical Ecosystems (23rd New Phytologist* Symposium)**
17–20 November 2009, Guangzhou, China
Organizers: Yiqi Luo (U. of Oklahoma, OK, USA), Rich Norby (Oak Ridge, TN, USA), Juxiu Liu and Xuli Tang (South China Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China), Guoyi Zhou (South China Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China), Ian Alexander (U. of Aberdeen, UK) Contact: Helen Pinfield-Wells Website: www.newphytologist.org
Further information on Meetings http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/meetings

RECENT CARBON ACTIVITY

Carbon Budget 2007

An annual update of the global carbon budget and trends.
For further information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbontrends

REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP)

The REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP) will establish the mean carbon balance of large regions of the globe at the scale of continents and large ocean basins, including their component fluxes, using a combination of bottom up data and models from regional carbon cycle programs and global analyses.

For further information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/ACTIVITIES/RECCAP.htm

Full Radiative Forcing of Forests

Policies for climate mitigation on land rarely acknowledge biophysical factors, such as reflectivity, evaporation, and surface roughness. Yet such factors can alter temperatures much more than carbon sequestration does, and often in a conflicting way. The GCP with NCEAS is developing a framework for examining biophysical factors in mitigation policies and provide some best-practice recommendations based on that framework.
Jackson et al. (2008) Protecting climate with forests. Environmental Research Letters 3
Download manuscript: http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1748-9326/3/4/044006

Postdoctoral position available. Contact: Karen Johnson. Applications to be received by 15. January 2009.
For Information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/global/pdf/NICCR_Summary_2008.pdf

Bioenergy and Earth Sustainability

The GCP with its sponsor programs of the Earth System Science Partnership have initiated a new activity to identify the major opportunities and constraints for bioenergy in the context of Earth system sustainability
For more information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/meetings/Bioenergy.html

Vulcan

The Vulcan Project is a NASA/DOE funded effort under the North American Carbon Program (NACP) to quantify North American fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at space and time scales much finer than has been achieved in the past.
Project Website: http://www.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan/index.php

Carbon Tracker

CarbonTracker is a system that calculates carbon dioxide uptake and release at the Earth's surface over time. It estimates the carbon dioxide exchange from an 'atmospheric point of view'. Since CO₂ mole fractions in the atmosphere reflect the sum of all the CO₂ exchange at the surface, they form the ultimate record of the combined human and natural influence on greenhouse gas levels.
Project Website: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/carbontracker/

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Peatlands and the carbon cycle – from local processes to global implications

Limpens J, Schaepman-Strub G, editors (2008)
Peatlands and the carbon cycle – from local processes to global implications
Access manuscripts: http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/special_issue27.html
Special Issue in Biogeosciences, 2008, in progress

Carbon cycling in Sub-Saharan Africa

Valentini R, Canadell JG, Bombelli A, editors (2008)
Carbon cycling in Sub-Saharan Africa
Access manuscripts: http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/special_issue37.html
Special Issue in Biogeosciences, 2008, in progress

The Continental-Scale Greenhouse Gas Balance of Europe

Dolman, A. Johannes; Valentini, Riccardo; Freibauer, Annette, 2008 The Continental-Scale Greenhouse Gas Balance of Europe

Ecological Studies , Vol. 203. ISBN: 978-0-387-76568-6

For further information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/products/EuropeGHGBalance.htm

Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon to Climate Change

Schuur EAG, J Bockheim, JG Canadell, E Euskirchen, CB Field, SV Goryachkin, S Hagemann, P Kuhry, P Lafleur, H Lee, G Mazhitova, F E Nelson, A Rinke, V Romanovsky, N Shiklomanov, C Tarnocai, S Venevsky, JG. Vogel, SA Zimov (2008) Vulnerability of permafrost carbon to climate change: implications for the global carbon cycle.
Request copy of the paper from the authors: Ted Schuur, Pep Canadell
Bioscience Vol 58 No 8 (Sep 2008), pp701-714, doi:10.1641/B580807

For further information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/news/CarboninPermafrost.htm

Managing Forests for Climate Change Mitigation

Canadell JG, Raupach MR (2008)
Managing Forests for Climate Change Mitigation.
Science 320, 1456-1457, doi: 10.1126/science.1155458
Request copy of the paper from the authors: Pep Canadell, Michael Raupach

For further information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/news/ManagingForests.htm

Drivers of interannual to interdecadal variability in atmospheric in atmospheric CO₂ growth rate and airborne fraction

Raupach MR, Canadell JG, Le Quéré C (2008)
Drivers of interannual to interdecadal variability in atmospheric in atmospheric CO₂ growth rate and airborne fraction.
Biogeoscience Discuss. 5:2867-2896
Access manuscript: http://www.cosis.net/members/journals/df/article.php?paper=bgd-5-2867

Further information on Publications:
http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/news/ScienceHighlights.html
http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/products/index.html