HRI Seminar Series - Dr. Xinping Hu

"Carbon Cycle Demystified"

DR. XINPING HU
ENDWOED CHAIR FOR ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE & MODELING
HARTE RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR GULF OF MEXICO STUDIES

Carbon has become a focal point in recent societal-wide discussions, primarily due to concerns about climate change and the possibility that human society might help alleviate the carbon overload. However, not everyone possesses a clear understanding of the carbon cycle, even though this element serves as a crucial conduit, transferring matter and energy throughout various sectors of society and across all regions of the Earth's surface, including the oceans, as it cycles around. In this talk, I will use simple language to explain the importance of the carbon cycle, how it operates both with and without human intervention, and the immense challenge we face even if "decarbonization" can take place soon, due to the already significant accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere over the past few centuries. I will conclude the talk with an overview of several marine-based carbon dioxide removal strategies for the audience to take home.

As the Endowed Chair for the HRI Ecosystem Science and Modeling Laboratory, Dr. Hu's team focuses on a wide variety of topics that are centered on the carbon cycle science in estuarine, coastal, and oceanic environments. Using high precision water chemistry analyses, stable isotopes, as well as modeling techniques, Hu’s research examines ocean and estuarine carbon fluxes and acidification, hydrological controls on estuarine biogeochemistry, long-term changes in ocean margin carbon dioxide levels, and hypoxia-related issues in both estuaries and the coastal ocean.