The seemingly innocuous squiggle of the Keeling Curve is actually a meticulous record of the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, the result of daily readings that have continued almost uninterrupted for more than 60 years. Its importance lies in the fact that, over those six decades, the zig-zag has trended steadily upward.
It was the discovery of the possibility of global warming. Its origins can be traced to a campsite in Big Sur, California. In , Charles David Keeling was a young postgraduate geochemist embarking on a study to compare the relative abundances of carbon dioxide in water and air. To do that, he first had to measure the level of CO2 in the atmosphere, which, to that point, nobody had done to any great precision. And because nobody had done it, there was no off-the-shelf equipment readily available to do so.
Keeling soon determined that the level of atmospheric CO2 was approximately parts per million ppm —that is, for every million molecules of gas in the atmosphere, of them were carbon dioxide. That figure remained the same whether he was at his campsite in Big Sur, in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest or the mountain deserts of Arizona.
At the time, this was considered primarily an answer to a question that not too many people were asking, but his efforts would soon assume greater significance. Investigate shifts in the distribution of plant and animal species due to climate change, and the effects of increased carbon dioxide emissions on the ocean. See how communities are preparing for sea level rise and other impacts of climate change, and ways we can help minimize future climate change.
Search-Icon Created with Sketch. KQED is a proud member of. Always free. Sign In. KQED Inform. Save Article Save Article. Clue into Climate. He calls his father prescient for the work that is led to the Keeling Curve. Inside Climate News uses cookies. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer.
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This can all be contributed to climate change. Climate change is defined as gradual changes in all the interconnected weather elements on our planet over approximately 30 years. The data shows the Earth is warming and it's up to us to make the changes necessary for a healthier planet.
Use these resources in your classroom to help your students understand and take action on climate change. Today, greenhouse gasses in the Earth's atmosphere are at their highest since the Pliocene Era, when sea levels were higher and the Earth was warmer.
Use the MapMaker Interactive to explore carbon emissions from countries across the globe.
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