An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry

our understanding of the global carbon cycle and the climatic consequences

of changes to it. Predicting such effects into the future is subject to further

unknowns, some of these being scientific others being sociological or political.

The task of environmental scientists is to reduce the uncertainties in the science

so that society can make the serious social changes needed to ameliorate the

effects of human-induced climate change in the most cost effective and least

socially disruptive way possible.

7.3 The sulphur cycle

7.3.1 The global sulphur cycle and anthropogenic effects

We now turn to the cycling of the element sulphur, outlining the nature of the

cycle prior to any major alteration by human industrial and urban activity and

examining how these activities have impacted, in a very major way, on the con-

temporary sulphur cycle.

262 Chapter Seven

W^

arag

200 400 600 800 1000

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

pCO 2 (ppm)

Glacial

CO 2

Pre-industrial

CO 2

2 ¥ CO 2

30 °C

25 °C

3 ¥ CO 2

Present

CO 2

Fig. 7.16Effect of rising atmospheric pCO 2 (dark stippled band), on the saturation index (W)

of aragonite (CaCO 3 ). After Buddemeier et al. (1998), courtesy of Joan Kleypas.