Latest news with #KeelingCurve
San Francisco Chronicle
29-07-2025
- Science
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump's budget takes aim at gold standard measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide
In its latest assault on science, the Trump administration has proposed eliminating funding for the Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii's Big Island, the place that has helped us understand how the rise in greenhouse gases is causing climate change. Measurements made at remote sites around the world, located away from industrial activities, provide the most direct evidence of this global increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The Mauna Loa Observatory, where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Oceanic and Atmospheric Research makes carbon measurements, is the most famous of these. Located on the barren slopes of a volcano 11,135 feet above sea level, it's the site of the longest continuous CO2 measurement in the world. In 1958, American scientist Charles David Keeling began measuring atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa and by 1961 had compiled enough data to establish that they were steadily rising. When Keeling's measurements began, the scientific community lacked a comprehensive understanding of the global carbon cycle. Deciding to go to Hawaii to do this, away from local contamination and vegetation, was a stroke of genius. The continuous record of this increase came to be known as ' the Keeling Curve, ' and it showed that if humans keep burning fossil fuels, atmospheric carbon will rise. This, in turn, increases global temperatures. Think of the measurements recorded at Mauna Loa as a health indicator for the planet — similar to human cholesterol levels being monitored by a doctor. Our view of the world changed the moment when these measurements began. They showed us that humanity can pull the levers of the planetary machine in a way that matters for us all. By making these measurements, the U.S. government has helped monitor the vital signs of our planet, providing us with an understanding of how serious the problem is. The Keeling Curve is valuable to science, but it is also a treasure that belongs to humanity as the most poignant indication of our impact on the environment and as a testament to our ability to document it. The Mauna Loa Observatory deserves the same respect as a UNESCO World Heritage site. But President Donald Trump, a renowned climate change denier, has shown repeatedly that he has no use for scientific data that disproves his preconceived assumptions. Since his second inauguration, he has proposed drastic cuts to science agencies like National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, NASA and the NOAA, so the proposed elimination of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research at Mauna Loa is no great surprise. While the Senate and House Appropriations Committees have both decided on budgets for NOAA that are only slight reductions from last year, the fate of the agency's Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which accounts for roughly 10% of the total NOAA budget, remains uncertain because the two budgets still have to be reconciled and voted on by Congress. Although other nations track atmospheric carbon dioxide in specific regions, none offer global coverage comparable to NOAA's, and none extend as far back as the Mauna Loa data. Today, NOAA operates a network of four global measurement stations in Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa and the South Pole, as well as 84 sampling sites in 37 countries worldwide. These sites collect samples, which are then sent to the laboratory in Boulder, Colo., for analysis. The NOAA stations are part of the World Meteorological Organization's Global Atmosphere Watch Programme, and NOAA also calibrates measurements taken by other countries. These sustained observations enable scientists and policymakers to understand our impact on the environment and make informed decisions. Seeing the data also reveals to the general public the consequences of our actions and the inadequacy of our response to date — atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to increase at an alarming rate. Interrupting the Mauna Loa time series, the most iconic measurement in use, would be catastrophic. It would be like interrupting the Dow Jones Industrial Average or a graph tracking the rise of the human population. We will never be able to go back and remake those measurements. The observatory provides essential information for the future, and humanity would be impoverished without it. The U.S. has been an essential partner in an international cooperative endeavor to understand our planet's carbon cycle. Science is a collaborative enterprise, and even the U.S. cannot do it all alone. The Global Carbon Budget utilizes data from NOAA and other sources for its annual reports on the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, allowing us to understand how the atmosphere, ocean and land respond to our input of emissions. Academic science funding in the U.S. and elsewhere typically favors hypothesis-based research — specific questions that can be answered by a targeted data set. Routine observations, such as the Mauna Loa carbon record, are not typically funded by National Science Foundation, even though they are fundamental to making discoveries. This is where government agencies like NOAA come in, because it is their mandate to make these observations. NOAA has always funded these measurements because it is part of its mission — to share important knowledge and information with others. If the Trump administration is successful in the senseless destruction of NOAA's Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, other countries will need to step up and assume the responsibility of making atmospheric carbon observations and be in charge of calibrations. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is making parallel measurements of carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa, but these are supported by philanthropy and are vulnerable to the whims of funders. For now, philanthropic funding is essential to ensure these measurements continue, but it can only be a stopgap measure. The Keeling Curve is a significant and symbolic achievement for an advanced nation, and the measurements should continue until humanity has no reason to monitor atmospheric carbon in such an intensive way. We, as a society, should be proud to fund it collectively. David Ho is a professor in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Find him on Bluesky at @
CNN
01-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
Trump admin tries to kill the most indisputable evidence of human-caused climate change by shuttering observatory
The Trump administration's proposed budget seeks to shut down the laboratory atop a peak in Hawaii where scientists have gathered the most conclusive evidence of human-caused climate change since the 1950s. The Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii has measured atmospheric carbon dioxide, which — along with other planet-warming pollution — has led directly to climate change, driving sea level rise, supercharging weather and destroying food systems. The president's budget proposal would also defund many other climate labs, including instrument sites comprising the US government's greenhouse gas monitoring network, which stretches from northern Alaska to the South Pole. But it's the Mauna Loa laboratory that is the most prominent target of the President Donald Trump's climate ire, as measurements that began there in 1958 have steadily shown CO2's upward march as human activities have emitted more and more of the planet-warming gas each year. The curve produced by the Mauna Loa measurements is one of the most iconic charts in modern science, known as the Keeling Curve, after Charles David Keeling, who was the researcher who painstakingly collected the data. His son, Ralph Keeling, a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, now oversees collecting and updating that data. Today, the Keeling Curve measurements are made possible by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, but the data gathering and maintenance of the historical record also is funded by Schmidt Sciences and Earth Networks, according to the Keeling Curve website. In the event of a NOAA shut down of the lab, Scripps could seek alternate sources of funding to host the instruments atop the same peak or introduce a discontinuity in the record by moving the instruments elsewhere in Hawaii. In 1958, when the Keeling Curve began, the concentration of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere was 313 parts per million. In 2024, that had risen to 424.61 ppm, and this year, monthly average CO2 levels at Mauna Loa exceeded 430 ppm for the first time. The proposal to shut down Mauna Loa had been made public previously but was spelled out in more detail on Monday when NOAA submitted a budget document to Congress. It made more clear that the Trump administration envisions eliminating all climate-related research work at NOAA, as had been proposed in Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for overhauling the government. It would do this in large part by cutting NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research entirely, including some labs that are also involved in improving weather forecasting. NOAA has long been one of the world's top climate science agencies, but the administration would steer it instead towards being more focused on operational weather forecasting and warning responsibilities. CNN has reached out to NOAA and Scripps for comment.
CNN
01-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
Trump admin tries to kill the most indisputable evidence of human-caused climate change by shuttering observatory
The Trump administration's proposed budget seeks to shut down the laboratory atop a peak in Hawaii where scientists have gathered the most conclusive evidence of human-caused climate change since the 1950s. The Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii has measured atmospheric carbon dioxide, which — along with other planet-warming pollution — has led directly to climate change, driving sea level rise, supercharging weather and destroying food systems. The president's budget proposal would also defund many other climate labs, including instrument sites comprising the US government's greenhouse gas monitoring network, which stretches from northern Alaska to the South Pole. But it's the Mauna Loa laboratory that is the most prominent target of the President Donald Trump's climate ire, as measurements that began there in 1958 have steadily shown CO2's upward march as human activities have emitted more and more of the planet-warming gas each year. The curve produced by the Mauna Loa measurements is one of the most iconic charts in modern science, known as the Keeling Curve, after Charles David Keeling, who was the researcher who painstakingly collected the data. His son, Ralph Keeling, a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, now oversees collecting and updating that data. Today, the Keeling Curve measurements are made possible by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, but the data gathering and maintenance of the historical record also is funded by Schmidt Sciences and Earth Networks, according to the Keeling Curve website. In the event of a NOAA shut down of the lab, Scripps could seek alternate sources of funding to host the instruments atop the same peak or introduce a discontinuity in the record by moving the instruments elsewhere in Hawaii. In 1958, when the Keeling Curve began, the concentration of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere was 313 parts per million. In 2024, that had risen to 424.61 ppm, and this year, monthly average CO2 levels at Mauna Loa exceeded 430 ppm for the first time. The proposal to shut down Mauna Loa had been made public previously but was spelled out in more detail on Monday when NOAA submitted a budget document to Congress. It made more clear that the Trump administration envisions eliminating all climate-related research work at NOAA, as had been proposed in Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for overhauling the government. It would do this in large part by cutting NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research entirely, including some labs that are also involved in improving weather forecasting. NOAA has long been one of the world's top climate science agencies, but the administration would steer it instead towards being more focused on operational weather forecasting and warning responsibilities. CNN has reached out to NOAA and Scripps for comment.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
CO2 levels just broke another record. Here's what that means
When man first walked on the moon, the carbon dioxide concentration in Earth's atmosphere was 325 parts per million (ppm). By 9/11, it was 369 ppm, and when COVID-19 shut down normal life in 2020, it had shot up to 414 parts ppm. This week, our planet hit the highest levels ever directly recorded: 430 parts per million. For 67 years, the observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano has been taking these measurements daily — tracking the invisible gas that is building up in our atmosphere and changing life on Earth. The record is known as the Keeling Curve. Charles David Keeling began those recordings, some of the first in the world to measure CO2 concentration over time. His son, Ralph Keeling, born one year before the observatory opened, has witnessed the rapid increase firsthand over his lifetime. "I was a teenager when I first started to appreciate what my father was doing and how it might be significant," Keeling told CBC News. Back then it was around 330 ppm. Keeling, a geochemistry professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, took over the research once his father passed away in 2005. "This problem is not going away, and we're moving further and further into uncharted territory, and almost certainly, very dangerous territory." The build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere isn't visible to the naked eye, but its concentration matters because of the greenhouse effect. Like the glass walls that trap heat from the sun in an actual greenhouse, gases in our atmosphere such as CO2 and methane also trap heat from the sun. At the start of the Industrial Revolution, ice core samples show CO2 levels were around 280 parts per million but as they rose, warming has increased by about 1.3 C over the pre-industrial average. That's led to rising temperatures and leading to more frequent and extreme weather, like heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts. While many have heard about the goals of limiting warming to 1.5 C or 2 C above pre-industrial levels, there have also been efforts to return CO2 levels to below 350 parts per million, as a key part of limiting the damage from climate change. The record highs have continued though. Just in the last year, CO2 readings from May have increased more than three parts per million — that many more molecules of CO2 trapping heat and contributing to warming. "We know why it's rising faster than ever, it's because we're burning more fossil fuels each year," said Keeling. Damon Matthews, a climate scientist and professor at Concordia University in Quebec, also says he's concerned and isn't surprised that there are new records every year. "If we want to actually stabilize CO2 levels in the atmosphere, we would need to cut global emissions by more than 50 per cent, and we're nowhere near doing that," he said, adding that there are other gases at play but CO2 is the dominant influence. "Every May, we're going to see a new record of atmospheric CO2, until we actually make a lot more progress on climate mitigation than we have today." The annual cycle, peaking in late spring in the northern hemisphere, is tied to plant photosynthesis — CO2 concentrations drop in the summer as plants absorb the gas and release oxygen. In 2021, the International Energy Agency said that if the world wants to limit global warming and reach net-zero by 2050, there could be no new coal, oil or gas projects. Matthews is part of Canada's net-zero advisory body and says he's seen some progress in decreasing CO2 emissions the last few years, but not enough. He says Europe's emissions have been going down for decades, and that last year CO2 emissions in China didn't increase. However, he says Canada still lags behind other countries, and the U.S. is trending the other way. "There's lots of policy options, certainly focusing on expanding the oil and gas industry in Canada right now is not going to get us where we need to go in terms of climate," he said. "We just need to stop arguing about whether it's a priority and start doing the things that we know will help to solve the problem."
CBC
07-06-2025
- Science
- CBC
CO2 levels just broke another record. Here's what that means
Social Sharing When man first walked on the moon, the carbon dioxide concentration in Earth's atmosphere was 325 parts per million (ppm). By 9/11, it was 369 ppm, and when COVID-19 shut down normal life in 2020, it had shot up to 414 parts ppm. This week, our planet hit the highest levels ever directly recorded: 430 parts per million. For 67 years, the observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano has been taking these measurements daily — tracking the invisible gas that is building up in our atmosphere and changing life on Earth. The record is known as the Keeling Curve. Charles David Keeling began those recordings, some of the first in the world to measure CO2 concentration over time. His son, Ralph Keeling, born one year before the observatory opened, has witnessed the rapid increase firsthand over his lifetime. "I was a teenager when I first started to appreciate what my father was doing and how it might be significant," Keeling told CBC News. Back then it was around 330 ppm. Keeling, a geochemistry professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, took over the research once his father passed away in 2005. "This problem is not going away, and we're moving further and further into uncharted territory, and almost certainly, very dangerous territory." Why CO2 matters The build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere isn't visible to the naked eye, but its concentration matters because of the greenhouse effect. Like the glass walls that trap heat from the sun in an actual greenhouse, gases in our atmosphere such as CO2 and methane also trap heat from the sun. At the start of the Industrial Revolution, ice core samples show CO2 levels were around 280 parts per million but as they rose, warming has increased by about 1.3 C over the pre-industrial average. That's led to rising temperatures and leading to more frequent and extreme weather, like heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts. While many have heard about the goals of limiting warming to 1.5 C or 2 C above pre-industrial levels, there have also been efforts to return CO2 levels to below 350 parts per million, as a key part of limiting the damage from climate change. The record highs have continued though. Just in the last year, CO2 readings from May have increased more than three parts per million — that many more molecules of CO2 trapping heat and contributing to warming. "We know why it's rising faster than ever, it's because we're burning more fossil fuels each year," said Keeling. Direct link to fossil fuels Damon Matthews, a climate scientist and professor at Concordia University in Quebec, also says he's concerned and isn't surprised that there are new records every year. "If we want to actually stabilize CO2 levels in the atmosphere, we would need to cut global emissions by more than 50 per cent, and we're nowhere near doing that," he said, adding that there are other gases at play but CO2 is the dominant influence. "Every May, we're going to see a new record of atmospheric CO2, until we actually make a lot more progress on climate mitigation than we have today." The annual cycle, peaking in late spring in the northern hemisphere, is tied to plant photosynthesis — CO2 concentrations drop in the summer as plants absorb the gas and release oxygen. In 2021, the International Energy Agency said that if the world wants to limit global warming and reach net-zero by 2050, there could be no new coal, oil or gas projects. Matthews is part of Canada's net-zero advisory body and says he's seen some progress in decreasing CO2 emissions the last few years, but not enough. He says Europe's emissions have been going down for decades, and that last year CO2 emissions in China didn't increase. However, he says Canada still lags behind other countries, and the U.S. is trending the other way. "There's lots of policy options, certainly focusing on expanding the oil and gas industry in Canada right now is not going to get us where we need to go in terms of climate," he said. "We just need to stop arguing about whether it's a priority and start doing the things that we know will help to solve the problem."
