Publication of the opening lecture by Pr François-Marie Bréon

François-Marie Bréon

The disrupted carbon cycle

This book describes the carbon cycle, its disruption by human activities, and the issues involved in quantifying it in the context of ongoing climate change.

Carbon is one of the major elements of life on Earth. It is involved in a large number of processes modulating the Earth's climate, the increase in_CO2 in the atmosphere being the main cause of global warming, for example. Photosynthesis is the driving force behind the carbon cycle, with constant exchanges between the ocean, atmosphere, soil and vegetation. This book describes this cycle, its modification by human activities and the observation systems, including satellites, that have been set up to quantify exchanges and understand the underlying mechanisms.

Bréon F.-M., Le Cycle perturbé du carbone, Paris, Collège de France, coll. " Leçons inaugurales ",^no 333, 2025, 64  p.

ISBN : 978-2-7226-0852-8
Price :12 €
Publication : 20  november 2025

François-Marie Bréon is a physicist and climatologist. Having spent his entire career at the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), in what was to become the Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement, he contributed to the drafting of the 5^th intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. In 2024-2025, he was visiting professor at the Avenir Commun Durable Annual Chair, created with the support of the Collège de France Foundation and its major sponsors the Covéa Foundation and TotalEnergies.