Meet the challenges in the “Carbon Age”

Carbon, the sixth element in the periodic table, is widely present in various organic and inorganic forms in the atmosphere, soil and geological formations, water, and biota. The carbon cycle describes the transfer of both carbon and energy among different reservoirs located on the Earth. In the “Carbon Age” (spanning the years 1750-2100 AD), energy derived from carbon stored in fossil fuels has rapidly advanced modern civilization, but it has come at the cost of increased emissions of the greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change.