CO2 Sources

Human Emissions Are Restoring Vital Atmospheric CO₂

Recent studies have been published that allege that the 50% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (later 1700s) are attributable mostly or entirely to nature. In other words they aver that adding huge amounts of a gas to the atmosphere won't increase the concentration of that gas in the atmosphere.

In our latest research publication, our team of researchers used seven separate lines of evidence to confirm that the increase from 280 parts-per-million (ppm) to our current level of 420 ppm are primarily from human emissions of this beneficial molecule.

One compelling and easily understood line of evidence is the Mass Balance. We know fairly accurately how much CO₂ is emitted every year by our activities and know very accurately the concentration in the atmosphere. Using this, our team found that only about half of our emissions are showing up in the atmosphere. That means that nature is sequestering the other 50%, primarily by increased photosynthesis ("Greening") and most of the rest by the oceans.

In other words, nature is a net "sink" not a source for CO₂.

A second convincing argument can be made by reviewing the CO₂levels as measured using ice cores from Antarctica.

We find that concentration of the gas increased substantially during each of the previous warm interglacials, but rarely got much more than 300 ppm. Our current levels are about 50% higher than any others measured over the last 800,000 years and more.

Something is different now. That "something" is humans liberating the CO₂ that had been locked up during the creation of coal along with oil and gas source rocks.

Enjoy driving your internal combustion vehicle, knowing that your emissions are helping to drive increases in crop production and the greening of the Earth.

Download the pdf here: The Human Contribution to Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: How Human Emissions Are Restoring Vital Atmospheric CO2.