Breathing more easily, naturally
There is much more to climate change than carbon dioxide. Of all the molecules rising to cause stronger storms, longer droughts, more fires, pestilence, local extinctions, and sea level rising, global carbon is the easiest to measure as an indicator of overall planet health. The other greenhouse gasses, methane, nitrous oxides, and especially water vapor are more difficult to measure due to their dynamic, constantly shifting nature.
Global carbon dioxide levels are observed and recorded far from industries 11,000 feet above sea level at the Mauna Loa Observatory. Carbon dioxide rose steadily from 315 parts per million (ppm) in 1958 to 415 ppm in 2018, an increase of about 2.5 ppm per year or about a 44% rise. Average temperatures were also observed rising in similar fashion, more steeply after 1960, confirming the analogy of the greenhouse effect.
Alarmed by a graphic trajectory of CO2 swooping up approaching the vertical, mechanistic thinking kicked-in to turn down the global CO2 spigot. Fossil fuel burning was clearly an enormous factor and much attention appropriately focused on eliminating the burn.
In our haste to fix the problem we overlooked details. Keeling’s graph is not smooth. It is saw-toothed; rising during the cold season and dipping about 5 ppm during warmer weather. While the spikes and dives were averaged out, a closer…
