The Keeling Curve

The Keeling curve is a graph that shows the concentration of carbon doixide in the Earth's atmosphere. It is based on measurements taken continuously at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii under the supervision of Charles David Keeling. Keeling's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Before Keeling's research and graph's it was thought that the carbon dioxide would vary. This increase in atmospheric CO2 is considered to be growing due to the combustion of fossil fuels, and it has been accelerating in the recent years. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, this has a significant implications in global warming. Measurements of carbon dioxide concentration in ancient air bubbles trapped in polar ice show that it has historically been between 275 and 285 ppmv during the Holocene epoch (9,000 BCE onwards), but started rising sharply at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

source: http://sio.ucsd.edu/keeling/images/Keeling_Curve.jpg

source:

http://www.climatecentral.org/video/whatweknowforsure/images/keeling-curve.png

Susana Gomes