A study finds that fly ash, the unreactive residual byproduct of coal burning, contributes around 37-72% of the fossilized particulate organic carbon flux in the Yangtze River basin, or around 0.21-0.42 megatons of carbon per year; the results reveal that anthropogenic carbon cycling can match the pace of the geological carbon cycle, not only via emissions to the atmosphere but also by altering river carbon transport, according to the authors.
Article #19-21544: "Coal fly ash is a major carbon flux in the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) basin," by Gen K. Li et al.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Gen K. Li, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; tel: 213-509-7708; email: ligen@caltech.edu ; Woodward Fischer, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; tel: 626-395-6790; email: wfischer@caltech.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences