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The Keeling Curve, keeping an eye on global CO2 levels since 1958

Graph: scrippsco2.ucsd.edu

Many of us may not have heard of the name David Keeling. Many may not have known why this scientist has made such an important impact on the way the world thinks about global warming. So let’s take a quick look at how this man made one of the most important breakthroughs in modern history.

In the early 20th Century it was suspected that the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere was increasing. There was however very little measurements to support these suggestions and what data did exist varied widely.

POST CONTINUES

In 1953 Charles (Dave) David Keeling began a post doctoral position under Professor Harrison Brown at Caltech, Pasadena. The initial project David was to perform involved tests extracting uranium from granite for potential use in the Nuclear Power Industry, this project never really got off the ground and so with the support of Professor Brown, David soon became involved in a project investigating the equilibria between carbonate in surface waters, limestone and atmospheric CO2.

The work involved building a gas manometer to measure CO2 extracted from the air as well as acidified samples of water. An example of one of these Manometers can be seen below.

Image: Manometer, scrippsco2.ucsd.edu

Early discoveries

During early research around Pasadena the levels of CO2 were found to fluctuate widely and this was put down to the industry in the area. However when David began taking samples in different locations such as Big Sur near Monterey, the rain forests of Olympic peninsula and high mountain forests in Arizona, he found that the data was basically the same. The results of his testing showed an interesting pattern of diurnal change, that is that the level of CO2 was higher during the night than the day (later shown to be due to plant and soil respiration at night), however the levels of 310 parts per million that he found in the afternoons were constant in all places that he took measurements.

What has happened since 1958

In 1958 David began taking CO2 measurements at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, his reasoning being that he wanted the readings to be taken in a place far from industry and any foreign influences that might alter the true CO2 levels of the atmosphere. On the first day recording measurements at Mauna Loa in March 1958 Keeling recorded an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 313 ppm.

To Dave Keeling’s surprise, however, the CO2 concentration at Mauna Loa had risen by 1ppm in April 1958 to a maximum in May when it began to decline reaching a minimum in October. After this the concentration increased again and repeated the same seasonal pattern in 1959. In Dave Keeling’s words “We were witnessing for the first time nature’s withdrawing CO2 from the air for plant growth during summer and returning it each succeeding winter” In 1959 the average concentration had increased and increased still further in 1960 as shown in the graph at the beginning of this post.

Sadly David Keeling past away in 2005, but not before he made this huge contribution to helping us be more aware of global warming.

What I find most alarming about the Keeling Curve, is the fact that we have seen the increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere since 1958 and yet nothing real seems to have been done until recent times, and it’s mostly the European countries who seem to be really concerned about Global Warming and making concerted efforts to do something really quickly. Australia I am sad to say is not doing enough and definitely not acting quickly enough.

To see more of the history of the Keeling Curve please see the website link below.

Website: The Keeling Curve

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