Mauna Loa

Figure 13.3. Concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide 1958-1989 at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii.

Fig. 11-1. Mean monthly concentrations of atmospheric C02at Mauna Loa. The yearly oscillation is explained mainly by the annual cycle of photosynthesis and respiration of plants in the Northern Hemisphere. Source Lindzen (2).

Direct measurements made at Mauna Loa since 1958 (4) indicate that the rate of increase in atmospheric CO2 is increasing. In 1988, the atmospheric carbon reservoir was estimated at 351 and larger than at any time... 

It seems unlikely that feedbacks due to species replacement have begun since the beginning of the Mauna Loa record because compositional changes due to climate change will take decades and have not yet been documented on a wide scale. However, this fact increases the importance of such feedbacks to future trends in atmospheric CO2 when these feedbacks become important it is highly unlikely that positive and negative feedbacks will exactly cancel each other and more likely that one or the other will prevail and cause deviations from current trends in atmospheric CO2. 

Keeling, C. D. Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations—Mauna Loa, Hawaii, 1958-1987 NDP-OOl/Rl Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN, 1988. 

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... 

Figure 2. Concentration of atmospheric CO2 measured from the Mauna Loa observatory, Hawaii. Data were from Boden et al. 10).

A recent development that has substantially raised our knowledge about the carbon cycle is the measurement of the O2/N2 atmospheric ratio (Heimann, 1997). Figure 11-3 shows the combined curves of CO2 for Mauna Loa and South Pole as well as the recent development of data regarding the oxygen to nitrogen ratio in... 

Fig. 11-3 Direct atmospheric measurements of the CO2 concentration (left-hand scale) at Mauna Loa (Hawaii) and the South Pole station (Keeling et al., 1995) together with the concurrently observed decrease in atmospheric oxygen content (right-hand scale) at La Jolla, CA after 1989. (Taken from Heimann (1997) with permission from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.)...

The atmospheric CO2 content increased by about 1 ppmv per year during the period 1959-1978 (Bacastow and Keeling, 1981) with the South Pole Pco increase lagging somewhat behind the Mauna Loa (19.5°N,155.6 "W) data. This difference is consistent with our knowledge of interhemispheric mixing times and the fact that most fossil fuel emissions occur in the northern hemisphere (see also Conway et al, 1994a). 

Due to the imbalance of sources and sinks, atmospheric N2O is increasing by 3 Tg N/yr or 0.2%/yr. Figure 12-9 shows average N2O mixing ratios from four stations in the NOAA-CMDL network, Barrow, Mauna Loa, Samoa, and the South Pole (data are from the NOAA-CMDL and can be obtained from www.cmdl.noaa.gov). The most recent IPCC estimate gives a total N2O source of 16 Tg N, 7 Tg of which are a result of human activities (IPCC, 1997). The largest contribution to the anthropogenic N2O sources is 3 Tg N from... 

Cohen AS, O Nions RK, Kurz MD (1996) Chemical and isotopic variations in Mauna Loa tholeiites. Earth... 

The Fifth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that human influence on the climate system is clear [1], The C02 concentration in the atmosphere is continuously growing. The latest value is 402.52 ppm (January 2016, Mauna Loa Observatory), which is 2 pmm higher than the value registered in January 2015 [1],... 

Tans P, Keeling R. Mauna Loa C02 Monthly Mean Data [Internet]. 2013. Available from http //www.esrl.noaa.gov/ gmd/ccgg/trends/ mlo (Accessed 2013-05-15). 

Figure 8. The COt concentrations observed at Mauna Loa, Hawaii by C. D. Keeling and coworkers.

Keeling, C. D., The Influence of Mauna Loa Observatory on the Development of Atmospheric C02 Research, 1978, J. M. Miller, ed., N0AA Special Report, Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring. 

Table 1.2. Major-element data (%) for a Mauna Loa basalt and olivine phenocrysts. Composition of the residual liquids obtained after removal of olivine fractions f0(.

Circa 2008 Annual Mean at Mauna Loa (19°32 N. 155°34 W. 3397m above MSL). Range of values exhbited for very dry to very moist air. 

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.)... 

We rented a house in the remote and desolate Kau district of the big island of Hawaii. It was an area of twisted lava flows of all ages. Kapukas were the only vegetation, islanded areas of ancient forest surrounded by frothy seas of hardened rock, which had killed all low-lying and less fortunate life. Slowly, nearly imperceptibly, Mauna Loa s gentle bulk rose up to fourteen thousand feet in the distance behind us. We were at approximately the twenty-five hundred foot... 

Fig. 3.32 seasonal record of atmospheric CO2 from three stations Point Barrow 71.3°N, Mauna Loa 19.5°S, South Pole 90.0°S. (after Ciais et al., 1998)... 

Figure 3.29, for example, shows measurements of the photolysis rate of 03, J(03), made at the Mauna Loa Observatory on two different days, compared to model calculations of the photolysis rate constant (Shetter et al., 1996). The two model calculations use different assumptions regarding the quantum yield for 03 photolysis in the absorption tail beyond 310 nm (see Chapter 4.B). The measurements are in excellent agreement for the second day but somewhat smaller than the model calculations on the first. 

FIGURE 3.29 Measured rates of O, photolysis, 7(0, ), shown as heavy solid line, at Mauna Loa Observatory on two days (October 2, 1991, and February 3, 1992) compared to model calculations using two different assumptions (shown by the lighter dotted and dashed lines, respectively) for the quantum yield for 03 photolysis at A > 310 nm. (Adapted from Shetter et al., 1996.)... 

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