How does Mauna Loa measure CO2?
In April of 2019, a new CO2 analyzer was installed at Mauna Loa that uses a technique called Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS). (Prior to this date, an analyzer was used based on infrared absorption.)
How do we know how much CO2 was in the atmosphere back then?
Scientists can compare the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today with the amount of carbon dioxide trapped in ancient ice cores, which show that the atmosphere had less carbon dioxide in the past.
How did the extra carbon dioxide get into the atmosphere?
Carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere naturally when organisms respire or decompose (decay), carbonate rocks are weathered, forest fires occur, and volcanoes erupt. Carbon dioxide is also added to the atmosphere through human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and forests and the production of cement.
What is one of the main ways CO2 is removed from the atmosphere?
Photosynthesis removes CO2 from the atmosphere and replaces it with O2. Respiration takes O2 from the atmosphere and replaces it with CO2.
What is the current concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere at Mauna Loa Observatory?
Example: 0.000400 is expressed as 400 ppm. The Mauna Loa data are being obtained at an altitude of 3400 m in the northern subtropics, and may not be the same as the globally averaged CO2 concentration at the surface….Monthly Average Mauna Loa CO. 2.
| November 2021: | 415.01 ppm |
|---|---|
| November 2020: | 413.12 ppm |
How do CO2 levels vary during the year?
The amount of CO2 found in the atmosphere varies over the course of a year. Much of this variation happens because of the role of plants in the carbon cycle. Respiration occurs all the time, but dominates during the colder months of the year, resulting in higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere during those months.
When did we start measuring CO2 levels?
1958
When scientists (specifically, Ralph Keeling’s father) first started measuring atmospheric CO2 consistently in 1958, at the pristine Mauna Loa mountaintop observatory in Hawaii, the CO2 level stood at 316 parts per million (ppm), just a little higher than the pre-industrial level of 280 ppm.
When did CO2 start to increase?
Before the Industrial Revolution started in the mid-1700s, the global average amount of carbon dioxide was about 280 ppm. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (blue line) has increased along with human emissions (gray line) since the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1750.
What is CO2 and where does it come from?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) comes from both natural sources (including volcanoes, the breath of animals and plant decay) and human sources (primarily the burning of fossils fuels like coal, oil and natural gas to generate energy).
Which process produces oxygen that is released into the atmosphere?
photosynthesis
Plants – Plants create the majority of the oxygen we breathe through a process called photosynthesis. In this process plants use carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water to create energy. In the process they also create oxygen which they release into the air.