This book is the outcome of a NAill Advanced Study Institute on the
contemporary glo- bal carbon cycle, held in n Ciocco, Italy, September
8-20, 1991. The motivation for this ASI originated from recent
controversial findings regarding the relative roles of the ocean and the
land biota in the current global balance of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Consequently, the pur- pose of this institute was to review, among
leading experts in the field, the multitude of known constraints on the
present day global carbon cycle as identified by the fields of
meteorology, physical and biological oceanography, geology and
terrestrial biosphere sciences. At the same time the form of an Advanced
Study Institute was chosen, thus providing the opportunity to convey the
information in tutorial form across disciplines and to young researchers
entering the field. The first three sections of this book contain the
lectures held in II Ciocco. The first sec- tion reviews the atmospheric,
large-scale global constraints on the present day carbon cycle including
the emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use and it provides a
brief look into the past. The second section discusses the role of the
terrestrial biosphere and the third the role of the ocean in the
contemporary global carbon cycle.