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During this time, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has varied between 180 and 210 ppm during ice ages, increasing to 280–300 ppm during warmer interglacials. [115] [116] CO 2 mole fractions in the atmosphere have gone up by around 35 percent since the 1900s, rising from 280 parts per million by volume to 387 parts per million in 2009.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) concentrations from 1958 to 2023. The Keeling Curve is a graph of the annual variation and overall accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of Hawaii from 1958 to the present day.
The data only consider carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but not emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry. [n 2] Over the last 150 years, estimated cumulative emissions from land use and land-use change represent approximately one-third of total cumulative anthropogenic CO 2 emissions ...
However, volcanic eruptions also release carbon dioxide, which can fuel oxygenic photosynthesis by terrestrial and aquatic plants. The cause of the variation of the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere is not precisely understood. Periods with more oxygen in the atmosphere were often associated with more rapid development of animals.
Although individual CO 2 molecules have a short residence time in the atmosphere, it takes an extremely long time for carbon dioxide levels to sink after sudden rises, due to e.g. volcanic eruptions or human activity [17] and among the many long-lasting greenhouse gases, it is the most important because it makes up the largest fraction of the ...
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Conversely, a body of water with a pCO 2 greater than that of the atmosphere effluxes carbon dioxide. [4] [5] pCO 2 is additionally affected by water temperature and salinity. Carbon dioxide is less soluble in warmer water than cooler water, so hot water will exhibit a larger pCO 2 than cold water with the same concentration of carbon dioxide.
Absorption cross sections for CO2 (green) and water vapour (purple). The wavelengths most relevant to climate change are those where the green plot crosses the upper horizontal line, representing a CO2 level somewhat larger than the current concentration. CO 2 absorbs the ground's thermal radiation mainly at wavelengths between 13 and 17 micron ...