Structure and patterns of the urban carbon pools

• Applicant: Galina Churkina, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Physical Geography ; Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 319100801

Covering less than two percent of the Earth surface, cities account for more than 70 percent of the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuel. Cities also have a footprint extending to remote places, arising from urban demands for energy and material goods as well as transport of air pollution originating in the cities. Growing recognition of urbanization pressure on environment resulted also in increasing number of studies aimed at linking urbanization to carbon cycle. Most of this research focused on carbon fluxes of urban areas, especially on carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. Recently it was shown that urbanization created two new pools of carbon such as buildings and landfills, which constitute ~1.6% of the total vegetation and soil carbon pool globally. The creation of these new carbon pools is a result of carbon uptake in remote ecosystems, its transport to urban areas, and subsequent accumulation. Creation and maintenance of these pools has been associated with high emissions of CO2 from burning fossil fuels, which are currently better understood than the dynamics of carbon in these pools. Here I will investigate the structure and patterns of the urban carbon pools in most urbanized regions of the world, map their patterns and identify the most important drivers influencing their structure and spatial patterns. This study will serve as an important milestone towards a numerical model of the urban carbon cycle and eventually be incorporated in an Earth System Model. Understanding the role of cities in the carbon cycle can help to find efficient measures to reduce carbon emissions and climate change.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Dr. Karen C. Seto