Table of Contents
Why does the Keeling Curve have a saw pattern?
The saw-tooth pattern reflects vegetation cycles in the northern hemisphere: CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere by living plants during the April-September growing season, and released by dead plants in the rest of the year.
Why is there more carbon dioxide in the northern hemisphere?
Because the northern hemisphere contains much more land than the southern hemisphere – which is mostly covered by ocean – the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases overall during the northern winter [2]. “This allows us to produce a daily estimate of the distribution of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”
What is the main cause of increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere?
On Earth, human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2.
What did Charles Keeling do?
Charles David Keeling (April 20, 1928 – June 20, 2005) was an American scientist whose recording of carbon dioxide at the Mauna Loa Observatory confirmed Svante Arrhenius’s proposition (1896) of the possibility of anthropogenic contribution to the “greenhouse effect” and global warming, by documenting the steadily …
Why did Keeling choose Mauna Loa?
Mauna Loa was chosen as a long-term monitoring site due to its remote location far from continents and its lack of vegetation. Keeling and his collaborators measured the incoming ocean breeze above the thermal inversion layer to minimize local contamination from volcanic vents.
Why does the concentration of CO2 go up and down throughout the year?
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise and fall each year as plants, through photosynthesis and respiration, take up the gas in spring and summer, and release it in fall and winter. Now the range of that cycle is expanding as more carbon dioxide is emitted from burning fossil fuels and other human activities.
How might the pattern of the seasonal cycle differ for a station located in the southern hemisphere?
In general, researchers found strong seasonal CO2 fluctuations throughout the Northern Hemisphere and weaker fluctuations near the equator and in the Southern Hemisphere. This causes the decrease in CO2 levels that begins every year in May. Once winter arrives, plants save en- ergy by decreasing photosynthesis.
Why does the concentration of CO2 vary during the seasons in the southern hemisphere?
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. As a result, plants take more CO2 out of the atmosphere during the warm months when they are growing the most.
How do the patterns of Northern and Southern Hemisphere CO2 concentrations compare in the winter and summer months?
In the winter, carbon dioxide levels are at their peak in the northern hemisphere, when there is little plant or phytoplankton growth to offset emissions from human activities and natural sources. At the same time, CO2 concentrations drop in the southern hemisphere, which is bathed in summer sunlight and heat.
How did Keeling measure co2?
Charles David Keeling. Keeling began studying atmospheric carbon dioxide in 1956 by taking air samples and measuring the amount of CO2 they contained. Over time he noticed a pattern. The air samples taken at night contained a higher concentration of CO2 compared to samples taken during the day.