Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration

Carbon. Most of the Earth s supply of carbon is stored in carbonate rocks in the Hthosphere. Normally the circulation rate for Hthospheric carbon is slow compared with that of carbon between the atmosphere and biosphere. The carbon cycle has received much attention in recent years as a result of research into the possible relation between increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, most of which is produced by combustion of fossil fuel, and the "greenhouse effect," or global warming. Extensive research has been done on the rate at which carbon dioxide might be converted to cellulose and other photosyntheticaHy produced organic compounds by various forms of natural and cultivated plants. Estimates also have been made of the rate at which carbon dioxide is released to soil under optimum conditions by various kinds of plant cover, such as temperature-zone deciduous forests, cultivated farm crops, prairie grassland, and desert vegetation. 

Carbon dioxide has been measured at more that 30 stations, and an annual fluctuation of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was observed at all (10), However, the magnitude and timing of the fluctuations varied with geographic location (11), At Mauna Loa observatory, the concentration of atmospheric CO2... 

Bacastow, R. B. and Keeling, C. D. (1981). Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and the observed airborne fraction. In "Carbon Cycle Modeling" (B. Bolin, ed.), pp. 103-112. Wiley, New York. 

Pearson, P.N. and Palmer, M.R. (2000) Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 60 million years. Nature, 406, 695-699. 

Its combustion does not contribute towards increasing the net atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, one of the major factors responsible for the greenhouse effect ... 

Seasonal and interannual trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations reported as mole fraction in dry air. (a) Monthly mean values at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. Data are also presented as 6-month running average to eliminate the seasonal effects and (b) three-dimensional representation of latitudinal distributions of monthly mean values. Source After P. Tans and T. Conway, NOAA/ESRL Global Monitoring Division (www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends). (See companion website for color version.)... 

Figure 8.1 Annual variation in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii.

Global warming pressure groups would have the world believe that catastrophic changes in the earth s climate will occur without drastic limitations of carbon dioxide emissions—this in spite of the fact that the carbon dioxide levels in the earth s atmosphere have been much higher than today s for much of geological history. For example, as documented by the work of Berner,13 atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were some five 15... 

McElwain JC, Mitchell FJG, Jones MB (1995) Relationship of stomatal density and index of Salix cinerea to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in the Holocene. The Holocene 5 216-219 McElwain JC, Wade-Murphy J, Hesselbo SP (2005) Changes in carbon dioxide during an oceanic anoxic event linked to intrusion into Gondwana coals. Nature 435 479-482 Meyer HW (1992) Lapse rates and other variables applied to estimating paleoaltitudes from fossil floras. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 99 71-99... 

Stange G. (1992) High-resolution measurement of atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentration changes by the labial palp organ of the moth Heliothis armigera (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). 

Figure 9.7. Growth of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at four locations. (After Machta et al., 1977.)...

The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has been estimated to have been approximately 290 ppm (5.2x10 ig m ) in the middle of the nineteenth century. Today, the carbon dioxide concentration... 

One of the reasons for the great interest in biomass as a fuel source is that it does not affect atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. This is because carbon dioxide,... 

As we come to fuUy appreciate the implications of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on upper ocean chemistry and physical stmcture, it is important that we evaluate these impacts on m or biogeochemical processes. N2 fixation is an obvious ecological function that requires such evaluation. Preliminary assessment of the effect of temperature shifts on the distribution of Trichodesmium populations in the upper ocean have been made (Breitbarth et al., 2006). The physiological effects of increasing CO2 have only recendy been realized (Levitan etal., 2006 Barcelos e Ramos et al., 2007 Hutchins et al., 2007). These studies necessarily need to be extended to other relevant diazotrophs as well as to the effects of pH. 

Cox J. E., Railsback L. B., and Gordon E. A. (2001) Evidence from CatskiU pedogenic carbonates for a rapid large Devonian decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Northeastern Geol. Environ. Sci. 23, 91—102. 

Kasting J. E. (1992) Proterozoic cUmates the effects of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. In The Proterozoic Biosphere A Multidisciplinary Study (eds. J. W. Schopf and C. Klein). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 165-168. 

Pearsou P. N. aud Pahner M. R. (1999) Middle Eocene seawater pH and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Science 284(5421), 1824-1826. 

Beerling D. J. (1993) Changes in the stomatal density of Bcte/a nana leaves in response to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration since the late-glacial. Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. 49, 181-187. 

---