{"id":33152,"date":"2025-01-06T16:36:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T15:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=33152"},"modified":"2025-04-22T07:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T05:06:04","slug":"how-is-the-concentration-of-co%e2%82%82-in-the-atmosphere-measured-and-what-are-the-historical-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/01\/06\/how-is-the-concentration-of-co%e2%82%82-in-the-atmosphere-measured-and-what-are-the-historical-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"How is the concentration of CO\u2082 in the atmosphere measured and what are the historical trends?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) in the atmosphere is measured using precise instruments that analyze the chemical composition of the air. The most common method is infrared spectroscopy, which uses the absorption properties of CO\u2082 for infrared light. Measurements are made at a worldwide network of monitoring stations, the best known of which is the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\ud83d\udee0\ufe0f CO\u2082 concentration measurement methods<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Direct measurements:<\/strong> Starting in 1958, Charles David Keeling began systematically measuring CO\u2082 concentrations on Mauna Loa, which led to the creation of the so-called Keeling curve, which documents the continuous increase in CO\u2082 concentrations in the atmosphere.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Global network of stations:<\/strong> In addition to Mauna Loa, there are dozens of other stations around the world, including in the polar regions, that provide data on CO\u2082 concentrations at different latitudes and altitudes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ice core analysis:<\/strong> Analysis of air bubbles trapped in glaciers is used to determine historical CO\u2082 concentrations. This data allows scientists to reconstruct atmospheric conditions up to 800,000 years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\ud83d\udcc8 Historical trends in CO\u2082 concentration<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pre-industrial era:<\/strong> Before the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of CO\u2082 in the atmosphere was approximately <strong>280 ppm<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>20th century:<\/strong> Due to industrialization and increased burning of fossil fuels, CO\u2082 levels began to rise significantly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exceeding 400 ppm:<\/strong> In 2013, the border was crossed for the first time in recorded history <strong>400 ppm<\/strong> on Mauna Loa.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Current values:<\/strong> By 2023, CO\u2082 concentrations continued to rise and values exceeded <strong>420 ppm<\/strong>, which represents an approximately 50 % increase over pre-industrial levels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long-term trends:<\/strong> Ice cores show that current CO\u2082 concentrations are the highest in the last 800,000 years (and probably longer).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u26a0\ufe0f Consequences and significance<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Global warming:<\/strong> The rapid increase in CO\u2082 concentrations is a major cause of climate change because CO\u2082 traps heat in the atmosphere.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Historical context:<\/strong> The measurements provide important context for understanding how quickly and to what extent human activity is changing the composition of the air.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Political decisions:<\/strong> CO\u2082 monitoring is crucial for assessing the success of international emissions agreements and for forecasting future climate conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Measurements of atmospheric CO\u2082 concentrations have revealed a relentless upward trend due to human activity. These precise and long-term measurements are essential for understanding the extent of climate change and for making informed decisions on environmental policy and sustainable development. <em><strong>Spring<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) in the atmosphere is measured using precise instruments that analyze the chemical composition of the air. The most common method is infrared spectroscopy, which uses the absorption properties of CO\u2082 for infrared light. Measurements are made at a worldwide network of monitoring stations, the best known of which is the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. \ud83d\udee0\ufe0f Methods for measuring CO\u2082 concentration Direct measurements: Since 1958 [\u2026]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uhlikova_gramotnost"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}