Question

How is the seasonal cycle different in the Northern Hemisphere versus the Southern hemisphere and how does this affect levels in CO2?

Answer 1

The researchers find out very strong fluctuations in the CO2 level in North Hemisphere while it is less in the south hemisphere. We must understand first that when it is winters in the south hemisphere, the earth is at farthest from the sun (aphelion) hence the winters are chilled here while when summers are there, the sun is closest to the earth and thus extreme heat waves are seen there. hence we can say that extreme seasonal fluctuation conditions are seen there.

The fluctuations in CO2 levels is due to photosynthesis. Since the north hemisphere has abundance of land which have more trees as compared to the south hemisphere, they use CO2 in photosynthesis and convert it into O2. Though oceans also perform photosynthesis, very less amount of CO2 is moved to the atmosphere during this process in the south hemisphere. Hence the land areas in north hemisphere cause huge fluctuations in CO2 cycle. Russian forest and Amazon lie in the north hemisphere which are the biggest carbon sink.

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