ENST 0842 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Keeling Curve, Cherry Picking, Thermosphere

• School: Temple University
• Department: Environmental Studies
• Course: ENST 0842
• Professor: Kolson Schlosser

Document Summary

Infrared radiation is more likely to get trapped because it"s less intense. Carbon in the world exists in 2 forms: Carbon in the world exists in 2 forms. Most carbon sources flux back and forth (volcanos, flora/fauna) Fossil fuels naturally do not flux, but anthropogenic activities interrupt that. Named after charles keeling who started measuring co2 concentrations in hawaii in the 1950s. 315 ppmv 400 ppmv of co2. Increasing co2 is like adding another blanket in your bed. Co2 fluctuates throughout the year (peaks in the summer) Less flora to take in co2 in the winter. Direct sampling: measure carbon in the atmosphere. Keeling curve (only goes back 65 years) Bubbles in ice cores can provide carbon record for past 600,000 years. Sediment beds under water bodies provides vegetation record. These are local carbon content records, not global. This info is fed into climate models. When the co2 concentration increases, the temperature increases proportionally a few hundred years later.