![]() ![]() The steady downward trend in Δ 14C of background air shows that the additional carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere must have a lower Δ 14C value than what is already in the atmosphere. This graphs shows all samples, since 2003, of air that has come from the undeveloped Rocky Mountains The trend in Δ 14C of the clean background air at Niwot Ridge. You can see how Δ 14C values have decreased since 2003 in the background air at Niwot Ridge: These measurements are also important for scientists trying to understand how carbon dioxide exchanges with the terrestrial biosphere and oceans.ġ4C is the isotope that scientists from NOAA and the University of Colorado use to understand fossil fuel CO 2 emissions. Governments or international agencies will be able to track annual emissions for a given region by examining the isotopic content of the surrounding atmosphere this will help ensure that the area is meeting the emission requirements. In the near future, the necessity for unbiased reporting may increase if towns, states, and countries are required to reduce emissions 3. This differs from self-reporting and inventories. While isotopic measurements do contain their own uncertainty, this is quantifiable, and therefore, we can know how much value we should place on the measurements and trends. Isotopic fingerprints and atmospheric measurements are another way to calculate fossil fuel CO 2 emissions, and the uncertainties and biases present in self-reporting and inventories are eliminated. But how can we find out when that gasoline was actually burnt inside the car engine, and emitted the CO 2 into the atmosphere? In a city, for example, we can find out when and how much gasoline was sold at each gas station from sales records. But how accurate are these inventories? It is difficult enough to gather all the required information to make an inventory for a whole country for the year, and even more challenging to make an inventory for a smaller region or a short time period. From economic inventories and measurements of CO 2 in the atmosphere, we know that roughly half of the CO 2 from fossil fuel burning stays in the atmosphere. They are a measurement of the amount of emissions produced from various activities (such as driving a car). ![]() Inventories are, in essence, economic bookkeeping. These tables of data are called inventories. Countries and industry use economic data to report how much fossil fuel they have burnt each year (such as can be seen above, in the graph on the left), and scientists calculate how much CO 2 is produced from the fossil fuels. ![]() Measurements of CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere over time tell us that CO 2 is increasing. Increased emissions are directly affecting atmospheric CO 2, as shown, in the increasing trend line for the graph on the right. From inventories, we can create estimates of emissions, as seen in the graph on the left. As global carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, it is vital that climate scientists understand the effects of emissions on the atmosphere. ![]()
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