Nov. 10, 2008

Steve Cole 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-0918 
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov 
MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-230

NASA HOSTS SEMINAR ON EARTH'S ROLE IN OUR CARBON DIOXIDE FUTURE

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a seminar at 11 a.m. EST, Friday, Nov. 
14, to discuss the current state of knowledge about how the 
"breathing" Earth influences current and future levels of carbon 
dioxide in the atmosphere. The seminar will take place in NASA 
Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street, S.W., 
Washington. It will be carried live on NASA Television. 

The Earth plays an important but complex role in how much carbon 
dioxide is in the atmosphere. While the amount of carbon dioxide 
produced by fossil-fuel burning and other human activities continues 
to grow worldwide, a significant amount of the greenhouse gas is 
absorbed by the ocean and plants on land. Scientists are actively 
trying to pinpoint where, when and how Earth removes carbon from the 
air in order to better forecast future levels of the gas that is a 
major contributor to global warming. Better understanding Earth's 
"carbon cycle" is a key element of NASA's Earth science program. 

The seminar participants will be: 
- Scott Denning, carbon cycle scientist, Colorado State University, 
Ft. Collins 
- Anna M. Michalak, carbon cycle scientist, University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor 
- William Emanuel, program manager, NASA's Science Mission 
Directorate, Washington 

The seminar will also be broadcast live on the Web at: 



http://www.nasa.gov/ntv 


For more information on NASA's Earth science program, visit: 



http://nasascience.nasa.gov/earth-science 

	
-end-