Climate Change-Foundational
This page is a "foundation" page not a "solutions" page. It connects to some of the ongoing research in the field of climate change. The potential "solutions" are listed on a separate page.
First the data which establishes the steady and persistent increase in Co2 and other greenhouse gasses.
The Keeling Curve These are measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii that began under the supervision of Charles David Keeling staring in the 1950"s.
THE NOAA ANNUAL GREENHOUSE GAS INDEX (AGGI)
Detail of NOAA CO2, N2O,CH4 and CFC readings from circa 1980 to present
ESRL American Somoa Observatory
ESRL Barrow, Alaska Observatory
ESRL South Pole Observatory
Next: let's look at the connection between greenhouse gasses and atmospheric warming.
"There are several different types of greenhouse gases. The major ones are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gas molecules all are made of three or more atoms. The atoms are held together loosely enough that they vibrate when they absorb heat." From UCAR the Center for Science Education
A short Youtube video explaining how greenhouse gases work.
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that is millions of years old. It plays a critical role in regulating the overall temperature of the Earth. The greenhouse effect was first discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1827, experimentally verified by John Tyndall in 1861, and quantified by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.Website: What's your impact.
Ample physical evidence shows that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the single most important climate-relevant greenhouse gas in Earth’s atmosphere. This is because CO2, like ozone, N2O, CH4, and chlorofluorocarbons, does not condense and precipitate from the atmosphere at current climate temperatures, whereas water vapor can and does. A more rigorous scientific explanation.
Next: Is there an anthropomorphic (human) connection between the steady rises in Co2 and other greenhouse gases and the historic increase in the burning of fossil fuels?
Another, quite independent way that we know that fossil fuel burning and land clearing specifically are responsible for the increase in CO2 in the last 150 years is through the measurement of carbon isotopes.... CO2 produced from burning fossil fuels or burning forests has quite a different isotopic composition from CO2 in the atmosphere. This is because plants have a preference for the lighter isotopes (12C vs. 13C); thus they have lower 13C/12C ratios. Since fossil fuels are ultimately derived from ancient plants, plants and fossil fuels all have roughly the same 13C/12C ratio – about 2% lower than that of the atmosphere. As CO2 from these materials is released into, and mixes with, the atmosphere, the average 13C/12C ratio of the atmosphere decreases. Website: Real Climate
We know human activities are driving the increase in CO2 concentrations because atmospheric CO2 contains information about its source. Scientists can tease apart how much CO2 comes from natural sources, and how much comes from combusted fossil fuel sources. website: Union of Concerned Scientists
