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{{Short description|Atmospheric constituent and greenhouse gas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Mauna Loa Carbon Dioxide-en.svg|thumb|350px|right|The [[Keeling Curve]] of atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations measured at the [[Mauna Loa Observatory]].]]
{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
[[File:Mauna Loa CO2 monthly mean concentration.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration measured at [[Mauna Loa Observatory]] in Hawaii from 1958 to 2023 (also called the [[Keeling Curve]]). The rise in {{CO2}} over that time period is clearly visible. The concentration is expressed as μmole per mole, or [[Parts-per notation|ppm]]. ]]


In [[Earth's atmosphere]], [[carbon dioxide]] is a [[trace gas]] that plays an integral part in the [[greenhouse effect]], [[carbon cycle]], [[photosynthesis]] and [[oceanic carbon cycle]]. It is one of three main [[Greenhouse gas|greenhouse gases]] in the atmosphere of [[Earth]]. The concentration of carbon dioxide ({{CO2}}) in the atmosphere reached 427 [[Parts per million|ppm]] (0.04%) in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Change |first=NASA Global Climate |title=Carbon Dioxide Concentration {{!}} NASA Global Climate Change |url=https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/?intent=121 |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet |language=en}}</ref> This is an increase of 50% since the start of the [[Industrial Revolution]], up from 280 ppm during the 10,000 years prior to the mid-18th century.<ref name="Eggleton-2013">{{cite book |last1=Eggleton |first1=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeSwRly2M_cC&q=280&pg=PA52 |title=A Short Introduction to Climate Change |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107618763 |page=52 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314104202/https://books.google.com/books?id=jeSwRly2M_cC&q=280&pg=PA52 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NOAA-June2022">{{Cite web |date=3 June 2022 |title=Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels |url=https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/carbon-dioxide-now-more-than-50-higher-than-pre-industrial-levels |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605004925/https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/carbon-dioxide-now-more-than-50-higher-than-pre-industrial-levels |archive-date=5 June 2022 |access-date=2022-06-14 |publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]}}</ref><ref name="NOAA-2020">{{Cite web |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) – An Introduction |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127013113/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/ |archive-date=27 November 2020 |access-date=2020-12-18 |publisher=[[NOAA]] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref> The increase [[Climate change attribution|is due to human activity]].<ref name="Etheridge-1996">{{cite journal |last=Etheridge |first=D.M. |author2=L.P. Steele |author3=R.L. Langenfelds |author4=R.J. Francey |author5=J.-M. Barnola |author6=V.I. Morgan |year=1996 |title=Natural and anthropogenic changes in atmospheric {{CO2}} over the last 1000 years from air in Antarctic ice and firn |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=101 |issue=D2 |pages=4115–28 |bibcode=1996JGR...101.4115E |doi=10.1029/95JD03410 |s2cid=19674607 |issn=0148-0227}}</ref>
The concentration of '''[[carbon dioxide]] ({{CO2}}) in [[atmosphere of Earth|Earth's atmosphere]]''' has reached 391 ppm (parts per million) {{as of|October 2012|lc=on}}<ref>NOAA Mauna Loa dataset (reported online at: http://co2now.org/ )</ref><ref name="Carbon Trends">{{cite web | url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ | title=Trends in Carbon Dioxide | author=Tans, Pieter | publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]]/[[Earth System Research Laboratory|ESRL]] | accessdate=2009-12-11}}</ref> and rose by 2.0 ppm/yr during 2000–2009 and faster since then. <ref name="Carbon Trends" /><ref name="carbon budget">{{citation |url=http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/09/hl-full.htm |title=Carbon Budget 2009 Highlights |publisher=globalcarbonproject.org |accessdate=2012-11-02}}</ref> This current concentration is substantially higher than the 280 ppm concentration present in pre-industrial times, with the increase largely attributed to [[anthropogenic]] sources.<ref name="Etheridge1996">{{cite journal |last=Etheridge |first=D. M. |coauthors=L. P. Steele, R. L. Langenfelds, R. J. Francey, J.-M. Barnola, V. I. Morgan |year=1996 |title=Natural and anthropogenic changes in atmospheric {{CO2}} over the last 1000 years from air in Antarctic ice and firn |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=101 |issue=D2 |pages=4115–4128 |issn=0148-0227 |doi=10.1029/95JD03410 |bibcode = 1996JGR...101.4115E }}</ref> Carbon dioxide is used in [[photosynthesis]] (in [[plant]]s and other [[photoautotroph]]s), and is also a prominent [[greenhouse gas]]. Despite its relatively small overall concentration in the atmosphere, {{CO2}} is an important component of Earth's atmosphere because it absorbs and emits [[infrared]] radiation at [[wavelength]]s of 4.26 [[µm]] (asymmetric stretching [[Infrared spectroscopy|vibrational mode]]) and 14.99&nbsp;µm (bending vibrational mode), thereby playing a role in the [[greenhouse effect]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Petty, G.W. |title=A First Course in Atmospheric Radiation |publisher=Sundog Publishing |year=2004 |pages=229–251 }}</ref> The present level is higher than at any time during the last 800 thousand years,<ref name="deep ice">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5314592.stm | work=BBC News | title=Deep ice tells long climate story | date=2006-09-04 | accessdate=2010-04-28 | first=Jonathan | last=Amos}}</ref> and likely higher than in the past 20 million years.<ref name="Grida">[http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/fig3-2.htm Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


The current increase in {{CO2}} concentrations primarily driven by the burning of [[Fossil fuel|fossil fuels]].<ref name="IPCC-AR6">IPCC (2022) [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_SPM.pdf Summary for policy makers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312040126/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_SPM.pdf|date=12 March 2023}} in [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/ Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802125242/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/|date=2 August 2022}}, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA</ref> Other significant human activities that emit {{CO2}} include [[cement]] production, [[deforestation]], and [[biomass]] burning. The increase in atmospheric concentrations of {{CO2}} and other long-lived greenhouse gases such as [[methane]] increase the absorption and emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere. This has led to a [[Instrumental temperature record|rise in average global temperature]] and [[ocean acidification]]. Another direct effect is the [[CO2 fertilization effect|{{CO2}} fertilization effect]]. The increase in atmospheric concentrations of {{CO2}} causes a range of further [[effects of climate change]] on the environment and human living conditions.
__TOC__


Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It absorbs and emits [[infrared radiation]] at its two infrared-active vibrational frequencies. The two [[wavelength]]s are 4.26&nbsp;[[μm]] (2,347&nbsp;cm<sup>−1</sup>) (asymmetric stretching [[infrared spectroscopy|vibrational mode]]) and 14.99&nbsp;μm (667&nbsp;cm<sup>−1</sup>) (bending vibrational mode). {{CO2}} plays a significant role in influencing [[Earth]]'s surface temperature through the greenhouse effect.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petty |first1=G.W. |year=2004 |title=A First Course in Atmospheric Radiation |journal=Eos Transactions |volume=85 |issue=36 |pages=229–51 |bibcode=2004EOSTr..85..341P |doi=10.1029/2004EO360007 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Light emission from the Earth's surface is most intense in the infrared region between 200 and 2500&nbsp;cm<sup>−1</sup>,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Atkins |first1=P. |author-link=Peter Atkins |url=https://archive.org/details/atkinsphysicalch00pwat/page/462 |title=Atkins' Physical Chemistry |last2=de Paula |first2=J. |date=2006 |publisher=W.H. Freeman |isbn=978-0-7167-8759-4 |edition=8th |page=[https://archive.org/details/atkinsphysicalch00pwat/page/462 462]}}</ref> as opposed to light emission from the much hotter [[Sun]] which is most intense in the visible region. Absorption of infrared light at the vibrational frequencies of atmospheric {{CO2}} traps energy near the surface, warming the surface of Earth and its lower atmosphere. Less energy reaches the upper atmosphere, which is therefore cooler because of this absorption.<ref name="UCAR-2012">{{cite web |date=2012 |title=Carbon Dioxide Absorbs and Re-emits Infrared Radiation |url=https://scied.ucar.edu/carbon-dioxide-absorbs-and-re-emits-infrared-radiation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921012448/https://scied.ucar.edu/carbon-dioxide-absorbs-and-re-emits-infrared-radiation |archive-date=21 September 2017 |access-date=9 September 2017 |publisher=UCAR Center for Science Education}}</ref>
==Current concentration==
[[File:CO2 concentrations.ogv|thumb|300px|Monthly average {{CO2}} concentrations in 2003. High {{CO2}} concentrations of ~385 ppm are in red, low {{CO2}}, about ~360 ppm, is blue.]]
[[File:Birth of a Space Laser Instrument.ogv|thumb|300px|Atmospheric CO2 concentrations can be measured from space using [[laser]] sensors.]]
[[File:Analogy between filling a bathtub with water and the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere (US EPA).png|thumb|alt=refer to caption|Analogy between filling a [[bathtub]] with water and the increasing concentration of {{CO2}} in Earth's atmosphere.<ref>
{{citation
| url=http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html | title=Causes of Climate Change: Climate Change: US EPA
| author=US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
}}
</ref>]]


The present atmospheric concentration of {{CO2}} is the highest for 14 million years.<ref name="Ahmed-2023">{{Cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Issam |title=Current carbon dioxide levels last seen 14 million years ago |url=https://phys.org/news/2023-12-current-carbon-dioxide-million-years.html |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=phys.org |language=en}}</ref> Concentrations of {{CO2}} in the atmosphere were as high as 4,000 ppm during the [[Cambrian|Cambrian period]] about 500 million years ago, and as low as 180 ppm during the [[Quaternary glaciation]] of the last two million years.<ref name="Eggleton-2013" /> Reconstructed temperature records for the last 420 million years indicate that atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations peaked at approximately 2,000 ppm. This peak happened during the [[Devonian]] period (400 million years ago). Another peak occurred in the [[Triassic]] period (220–200 million years ago).<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate and {{CO2}} in the Atmosphere |url=http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/climatechange2/07_1.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006151450/http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/climatechange2/07_1.shtml |archive-date=6 October 2018 |access-date=10 October 2007}}</ref>
In 2009, the {{CO2}} global average concentration in [[Earth's atmosphere]] was about 0.0387%<ref>Earth System Research Laboratory
Global Monitoring Division>{{cite web | url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/index.html | title=Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide}}</ref>
, or 387 parts per million.<ref name="Carbon Trends"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://co2unting.com | title=Current atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration at http://co2unting.com}}</ref> There is an annual fluctuation of about 3–9 ppmv which roughly follows the Northern Hemisphere's growing season. The [[Northern Hemisphere]] dominates the annual cycle of {{CO2}} concentration because it has much greater land area and plant biomass than the Southern Hemisphere. Concentrations peak in May as the Northern Hemisphere spring greenup begins and reach a minimum in October when the quantity of [[biomass]] undergoing photosynthesis is greatest.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) |url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html }}</ref>


{{TOC limit|3}}
==Sources of carbon dioxide==
Natural sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide include [[volcanic]] [[outgassing]], the [[combustion]] of [[organic compound|organic matter]], [[wildfires]] and the [[Respiration (physiology)|respiration]] processes of living [[aerobic organism]]s; man-made sources of carbon dioxide include the burning of [[fossil fuels]] for heating, [[electricity generation|power generation]] and [[transport]], as well as some industrial processes such as cement making. It is also produced by various [[microorganism]]s from [[fermentation (biochemistry)|fermentation]] and [[cellular respiration]]. [[Plant]]s convert carbon dioxide to [[carbohydrate]]s during a process called [[photosynthesis]]. They gain the energy needed for this reaction through the absorption of sunlight by pigments such as [[chlorophyll]]. The resulting gas, oxygen, is released into the atmosphere by plants, which is subsequently used for respiration by [[heterotrophic]] organisms and other plants, forming a [[carbon cycle|cycle]].


==Current concentration and future trends==
Most sources of {{CO2}} emissions are natural, and are balanced to various degrees by natural {{CO2}} sinks. For example, the natural decay of organic material in forests and grasslands and the action of forest fires results in the release of about 439 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year, while new growth entirely counteracts this effect, absorbing 450 gigatonnes per year.<ref>IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 (AR4) (available online at: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml#.T_EtQZFuqSo)</ref> Although the initial carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the young Earth was produced by [[volcano|volcanic activity]], modern volcanic activity releases only 130 to 230 [[tonne|megatonnes]] of carbon dioxide each year,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gerlach, T.M. |title=Present-day {{CO2}} emissions from volcanoes |journal=Eos, Transactions |volume=72 |issue=23 |pages=249, 254–5 |date=4 June 1991 |publisher=American Geophysical Union |doi=10.1029/90EO10192 |bibcode=1991EOSTr..72..249.}}</ref> which is less than 1% of the amount released by human activities (at approximately 29,000 megatonnes).<ref>U.S. Geological Survey, "[http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/VolGas/volgas.html Volcanic Gases and Their Effects]", [http://volcanoes.usgs.gov volcanoes.usgs.gov]</ref> These natural sources are nearly balanced by natural sinks, physical and biological processes which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For example, some is directly removed from the atmosphere by land plants for [[photosynthesis]] and it is soluble in water forming [[carbonic acid]]. There is a large natural flux of {{CO2}} into and out of the biosphere and oceans.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cappelluti, G.; Bösch, H.; Monks, P.S. |title=Use of remote sensing techniques for the detection and monitoring of GHG emissions from the Scottish land use sector |publisher=Scottish Government |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7559-7738-3 |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/12/15084401/0}}</ref> In the pre-industrial era these fluxes were largely in balance. Currently about 57% of human-emitted {{CO2}} is removed by the biosphere and oceans.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Canadell JG, Le Quéré C, Raupach MR, ''et al.'' |title=Contributions to accelerating atmospheric {{CO2}} growth from economic activity, carbon intensity, and efficiency of natural sinks |journal=[[Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.]] |volume=104 |issue=47 |pages=18866–70 |year=2007 |month=November |pmid=17962418 |pmc=2141868 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0702737104 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=17962418|bibcode = 2007PNAS..10418866C }}</ref> The ratio of the increase in atmospheric {{CO2}} to emitted {{CO2}} is known as the ''airborne fraction'' (Keeling et al., 1995); this varies for short-term averages but is typically about 45% over longer (5 year) periods. Estimated carbon in global terrestrial vegetation increased from approximately 740 billion tons in 1910 to 780 billion tons in 1990.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Post WM, King AW, Wullschleger SD, Hoffman FM |title=Historical Variations in Terrestrial Biospheric Carbon Storage |journal=DOE Research Summary |volume=34 |date=June 1997 |url=http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/pns/doers/doer34/doer34.htm |publisher=CDIAC, U.S. Department of Energy |bibcode=1997GBioC..11...99P |last2=King |last3=Wullschleger |pages=99 |doi=10.1029/96GB03942 }}</ref>
{{See also|Climate change|Climate variability and change|Atmospheric methane|Holocene#Climate|Quaternary#Climate|label 4=Holocene climate|label 5=Quaternary climate}}
[[File:Carbon Sources and Sinks.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Between 1850 and 2019 the [[Global Carbon Project]] estimates that about 2/3rds of excess carbon dioxide emissions have been caused by burning fossil fuels, and a little less than half of that has stayed in the atmosphere.]]


=== Current situation ===
===Carbon dioxide emissions===
Since the start of the [[Industrial Revolution]], atmospheric {{co2}} concentration have been increasing, causing [[global warming]] and [[ocean acidification]].<ref name="carbon budget 2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Friedlingstein |first1=Pierre |last2=O'Sullivan |first2=Michael |last3=Jones |first3=Matthew W. |last4=Andrew |first4=Robbie M. |last5=Gregor |first5=Luke |last6=Hauck |first6=Judith |last7=Le Quéré |first7=Corinne |last8=Luijkx |first8=Ingrid T. |last9=Olsen |first9=Are |last10=Peters |first10=Glen P. |last11=Peters |first11=Wouter |last12=Pongratz |first12=Julia |last13=Schwingshackl |first13=Clemens |last14=Sitch |first14=Stephen |last15=Canadell |first15=Josep G. |date=2022-11-11 |title=Global Carbon Budget 2022 |journal=Earth System Science Data |volume=14 |issue=11 |pages=4811–4900 |bibcode=2022ESSD...14.4811F |doi=10.5194/essd-14-4811-2022 |doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11850/594889 |hdl-access=free }} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref> In October 2023 the average level of {{CO2}} in Earth's atmosphere, adjusted for seasonal variation, was 422.17 [[parts per million]] by volume (ppm).<ref>"Parts per million" refers to the number of carbon dioxide molecules per million molecules of dry air. {{Cite web |title=Carbon Dioxide LATEST MEASUREMENT|publisher=NASA Global Climate Change |url=https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide|website=Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417141013/https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/ |url-status=live }} Updated monthly.</ref> Figures are published monthly by the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA).<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Global Monitoring Laboratory - Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
| publisher = National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
| url = https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
}} Latest figure, and graphs of trend; frequently updated</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Table of atmospheric CO₂ since 1958, updated monthly |publisher = National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration|url=https://gml.noaa.gov/webdata/ccgg/trends/co2/co2_mm_mlo.txt|quote=The actual figures fluctuate month-by-month throughout the year, so figures for the same month of different years should be compared, or a seasonally corrected figure used.}}</ref> The value had been about 280 ppm during the 10,000 years up to the mid-18th century.<ref name="Eggleton-2013" /><ref name="NOAA-June2022" /><ref name="NOAA-2020" />


Each part per million of {{co2}} in the atmosphere represents approximately 2.13 [[gigatonne]]s of carbon, or 7.82 gigatonnes of {{CO2}}.<ref>{{cite web |date=18 July 2020 |title=Conversion Tables |url=https://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/pns/convert.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927015828/http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/pns/convert.html |archive-date=27 September 2017 |access-date=18 July 2020 |website=Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center |publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory}} [http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/convert.html Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223232340/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/convert.html|date=23 February 2016}}</ref>
; Total CO<sub>2</sub> emissions
{{main|List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left;" <!-- This data came from [[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions]] - I couldn't work out where it actually came from in the first place.-->
|-
!colspan=3|Countries with the highest {{co2}} emissions
|-
!Country
!Carbon dioxide emissions per<br/> year (10<sup>6</sup> Tons) (2006)
|Percentage of global total
|Avg. emission <br/>per km<sup>2</sup> of its land (tons)
|-
| {{CHN}}
|6,103
|21.5%
|636
|-
| {{USA}}
|5,752
|20.2%
|597
|-
| {{RUS}}
|1,564
|5.5%
|91
|-
| {{IND}}
|1,510
|5.3%
|459
|-
| {{JPN}}
|1,293
|4.6%
|3421
|-
| {{GER}}
|805
|2.8%
|2254
|-
| {{GBR}}
|568
|2.0%
|2338
|-
| {{CAN}}
|544
|1.9%
|54
|-
| {{KOR}}
|475
|1.7%
|4758
|-
| {{ITA}}
|474
|1.7%
|1573
|}
{{-}}
; Per capita CO<sub>2</sub> emissions<ref>[http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/carbondioxide.html International Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Carbon Intensity] Energy Information Administration</ref>
{{main|List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left;"
|-
!colspan=3|Countries with the highest per capita {{co2}} emissions
|-
!Country
!Carbon dioxide emissions per year<br/> (Tons per person) (2006)
|-
| {{QAT}}
| 56.2
|-
| {{ARE}}
| 32.8
|-
| {{KWT}}
| 31.2
|-
| {{BHR}}
| 28.8
|-
| {{TTO}}
| 25.3
|-
| {{LUX}}
| 24.5
|-
| {{ANT}}
| 22.8
|-
| {{ABW}}
| 22.3
|-
| {{USA}}
| 19
|-
| {{AUS}}
| 18.1
|}
{{-}}


It was pointed out in 2021 that "the current rates of increase of the concentration of the major greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) are unprecedented over at least the last 800,000 years".<ref name="Eyring-2021" />{{rp|515}}


It has been estimated that 2,400 gigatons of CO₂ have been emitted by human activity since 1850, with some absorbed by oceans and land, and about 950 gigatons remaining in the atmosphere. Around 2020 the emission rate was over 40 gigatons per year.<ref>{{cite web | title=The World Counts | website=The World Counts | url=https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/climate-change/global-warming/global-co2-emissions | access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
===Anthropogenic {{CO2}} increase===


Some fraction (a projected 20–35%) of the fossil carbon transferred thus far will persist in the atmosphere as elevated {{CO2}} levels for many thousands of years after these carbon transfer activities begin to subside.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Archer D |year=2009 |title=Atmospheric lifetime of fossil fuel carbon dioxide |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/12933 |url-status=live |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=117–34 |bibcode=2009AREPS..37..117A |doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.031208.100206 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224064427/https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/12933 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |access-date=7 March 2021 |hdl=2268/12933}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Joos F, Roth R, Fuglestvedt JS, Peters GP, Enting IG, Von Bloh W, Brovkin V, Burke EJ, Eby M, Edwards NR, Friedrich T |year=2013 |title=Carbon dioxide and climate impulse response functions for the computation of greenhouse gas metrics: A multi-model analysis |url=https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/2793/2013/ |url-status=live |journal=Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=2793–2825 |doi=10.5194/acpd-12-19799-2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722130540/https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/2793/2013/ |archive-date=22 July 2020 |access-date=7 March 2021 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/58316}}</ref>
While {{CO2}} absorption and release is always happening as a result of natural processes, the recent drastic rise in {{CO2}} levels in the atmosphere is known to be entirely due to human activity.<ref name=Gosh03>e.g. {{cite journal |last1=Gosh |last2=Brand |title=Stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry in global climate change research |journal=International Journal of Mass Spectrometry |volume=228 |pages=1–33 |year=2003 |url=http://www.bgc.mpg.de/service/iso_gas_lab/publications/PG_WB_IJMS.pdf |format=PDF |doi=10.1016/S1387-3806(03)00289-6 |first1=Prosenjit |first2=Willi A.}}</ref> Researchers know this both by calculating the amount released based on various national statistics, and by examining the ratio of various carbon isotopes in the atmosphere,<ref name=Gosh03/> as the burning of long-buried fossil fuels releases {{CO2}} containing carbon of different isotopic ratios to those of living plants, enabling scientists to distinguish between natural and human-caused contributions to {{CO2}} concentration.


=== Annual and regional fluctuations ===
Burning fossil fuels such as [[coal]] and [[petroleum]] is the leading cause of increased [[human impact on the environment|anthropogenic]] {{CO2}}; [[deforestation]] is the second major cause. In 2010, 9.14 gigatonnes of carbon (33.5 [[gigatonne]]s of {{CO2}}) were released from fossil fuels and cement production worldwide, compared to 6.15 gigatonnes in 1990.<ref name="Peters">G.P. Peters et al. [http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/global-carbon-budget-2010 Global carbon budget 2010 (summary)], [http://www.tyndall.ac.uk Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research]</ref> In addition, land use change contributed 0.87 gigatonnes in 2010, compared to 1.45 gigatonnes in 1990.<ref name="Peters"/> In [[1997 Southeast Asian haze|1997, human-caused Indonesian peat fires]] were estimated to have released between 13% and 40% of the average carbon emissions caused by the burning of [[fossil fuels]] around the world in a single year.<ref>{{cite doi|10.1038/nature01131}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
Atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations fluctuate slightly with the seasons, falling during the [[Northern Hemisphere]] spring and summer as plants consume the gas and rising during northern autumn and winter as plants go dormant or die and decay. The level drops by about 6 or 7 ppm (about 50&nbsp;Gt) from May to September during the Northern Hemisphere's growing season, and then goes up by about 8 or 9 ppm. The [[Northern Hemisphere]] dominates the annual cycle of {{CO2}} concentration because it has much greater land area and [[Biomass (ecology)|plant biomass]] in mid-latitudes (30-60 degrees) than the [[Southern Hemisphere]]. Concentrations reach a peak in May as the Northern Hemisphere spring greenup begins, and decline to a minimum in October, near the end of the growing season.<ref name="Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Growth Rate">{{cite web |author=Rasmussen, Carl Edward |title=Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Growth Rate |url=http://mlg.eng.cam.ac.uk/carl/words/carbon.html |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314010417/https://mlg.eng.cam.ac.uk/carl/words/carbon.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817044713/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html |archive-date=17 August 2011 |access-date=13 June 2007 |publisher=Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC)}}</ref>
|url= http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2002/2002-11-08-06.asp
|title=Indonesian Wildfires Accelerated Global Warming
|first=Cat |last=Lazaroff
|work=Environment New Service
|date=2002-11-08
|accessdate=2011-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|author=Pearce, Fred |title=Massive peat burn is speeding climate change |url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6613 |publisher=New Scientist |date=6 November 2004 }}</ref> In the period 1751 to 1900 about 12 gigatonnes of carbon were released as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels, whereas from 1901 to 2008 the figure was about 334 gigatonnes.<ref>Calculated from file global.1751_2008.csv in [http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/ndp030/CSV-FILES] from the [[Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center]].</ref>


Concentrations also vary on a regional basis, most strongly [[Planetary boundary layer|near the ground]] with much smaller variations aloft. In urban areas concentrations are generally higher<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=George K, Ziska LH, Bunce JA, Quebedeaux B |year=2007 |title=Elevated atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentration and temperature across an urban–rural transect |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1258774 |url-status=live |journal=Atmospheric Environment |volume=41 |issue=35 |pages=7654–7665 |bibcode=2007AtmEn..41.7654G |doi=10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.08.018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015185617/https://zenodo.org/record/1258774 |archive-date=15 October 2019 |access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref> and indoors they can reach 10 times background levels.
This addition, about 3% of annual natural emissions {{As of|1997|lc=on}}, is sufficient to exceed the balancing effect of sinks.<ref>US Global Change Research Information Office, "[http://www.gcrio.org/ipcc/qa/05.html Common Questions about Climate Change]"</ref> As a result, carbon dioxide has gradually accumulated in the atmosphere, and {{As of|2009|lc=on}}, its concentration is 39% above pre-industrial levels.<ref name="carbon budget">[http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/09/hl-full.htm Carbon Budget 2009 Highlights], [http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/ The Global Carbon Project].</ref>


=== Measurements and predictions made in the recent past ===
Various techniques have been proposed for removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in [[carbon dioxide sink]]s.


* Data from 2009 found that the global mean {{CO2}} concentration was rising at a rate of approximately 2 ppm/year and accelerating.<ref name="Carbon Trends">{{cite web |author=Tans, Pieter |title=Trends in Carbon Dioxide |url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ |access-date=2009-12-11 |publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]]/[[Earth System Research Laboratories|ESRL]] |archive-date=25 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125014026/http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="carbon budget">{{cite web |title=Carbon Budget 2009 Highlights |url=http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/09/hl-full.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216001323/http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/09/hl-full.htm |archive-date=16 December 2011 |access-date=2012-11-02 |publisher=globalcarbonproject.org}}</ref>
<center><gallery style="margin:auto;">
* The daily average concentration of atmospheric {{co2}} at [[Mauna Loa Observatory]] first exceeded 400 ppm on 10 May 2013<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22486153|work=BBC|title=Carbon dioxide passes symbolic mark|date=10 May 2013|access-date=10 May 2013|archive-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523133252/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22486153|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NOAA-2019">{{cite web | url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/weekly.html | title=Up-to-date weekly average CO<sub>2</sub> at Mauna Loa | access-date=2019-06-01 | publisher=[[NOAA]] | archive-date=24 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524180525/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/weekly.html | url-status=live }}</ref> although this concentration had already been reached in the Arctic in June 2012.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jun/01/record-greenhouse-gas-trouble-scientists | newspaper = [[The Guardian]] | access-date = 11 May 2013 | date = 1 June 2012 | title = Greenhouse gas levels pass symbolic 400ppm CO<sub>2</sub> milestone | agency = Associated Press | archive-date = 22 January 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140122000841/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jun/01/record-greenhouse-gas-trouble-scientists | url-status = live }}</ref> Data from 2013 showed that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is this high "for the first time in 55 years of measurement—and probably more than 3 million years of Earth history."<ref>{{cite web |last=Kunzig |first=Robert |date=2013-05-09 |title=Climate Milestone: Earth's CO<sub>2</sub> Level Passes 400 ppm |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/05/130510-earth-co2-milestone-400-ppm/ |access-date=2013-05-12 |work=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |archive-date=15 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215081625/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/05/130510-earth-co2-milestone-400-ppm/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
File:Global Carbon Emissions.svg|Global fossil carbon emissions 1800–2007.
* As of 2018, {{CO2}} concentrations were measured to be 410 ppm.<ref name="Carbon Trends" /><ref name="NOAA-2013">{{cite web|title=Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide|url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/|website=Earth System Research Laboratories|publisher=[[NOAA]]|access-date=14 March 2023|archive-date=25 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125014026/http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/|url-status=live}}</ref>
File:TOMS indonesia smog lrg.jpg|[[False-color]] image of smoke and ozone pollution from Indonesian fires, 1997.
File:Biosphere CO2 Flux 08072006.gif|Biosphere {{CO2}} Flux in the northern hemisphere summer (NOAA Carbon Tracker).
File:Biosphere CO2 Flux 23122006.gif|Biosphere {{CO2}} Flux in the northern hemisphere winter (NOAA Carbon Tracker).
</gallery></center>


== Measurement techniques ==
==Past variation==
{{See also|Total Carbon Column Observing Network|Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide}}
The most direct method for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for periods before direct sampling is to measure bubbles of air ([[fluid inclusions|fluid or gas inclusions]]) trapped in the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] or [[Greenland]] ice sheets. The most widely accepted of such studies come from a variety of Antarctic cores and indicate that atmospheric {{CO2}} levels were about 260–280 ppmv immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding 10,000 years (10 [[Annum|ka]]). In 1832 Antarctic ice core levels were 284 ppmv.<ref>{{cite web | title=Historical {{CO2}} record derived from a spline fit (20 year cutoff) of the Law Dome DE08 and DE08-2 ice cores | url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/co2/lawdome.smoothed.yr20 | accessdate=2007-06-12}}</ref>
[[File:Global distribution of Carbon Dioxide.jpg|thumb|Carbon dioxide observations from 2008 to 2017 showing the seasonal variations and the difference between northern and southern hemispheres]]


The concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are expressed as parts per million by volume (abbreviated as ppmv, or ppm(v), or just ppm). To convert from the usual ppmv units to ppm mass (abbreviated as ppmm, or ppm(m)), multiply by the ratio of the [[molar mass]] of CO<sub>2</sub> to that of air, i.e. times 1.52 (44.01 divided by 28.96).
[[File:Carbon Dioxide 400kyr.png|thumb|380px|{{CO2}} concentrations over the last 400,000 years]]
[[File:Phanerozoic Carbon Dioxide.png|thumb|380px|Changes in carbon dioxide during the [[Phanerozoic]] (the last 542 million years). The recent period is located on the left-hand side of the plot. This figure illustrates a range of events over the last 550 million years during which {{CO2}} played a role in global climate.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Royer |title={{CO2}}-forced climate thresholds during the Phanerozoic |journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta |volume=70 |pages=5665–75 |year=2006 |url=http://droyer.web.wesleyan.edu/PhanCO2%28GCA%29.pdf |format=PDF |doi=10.1016/j.gca.2005.11.031 |first1=Dana L. |issue=23|bibcode = 2006GeCoA..70.5665R }}</ref> The graph begins (on the right) with an era predating terrestrial plant life, during which solar output was more than 4% lower than today.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guinan |last2=Ribas |chapter=Our Changing Sun: The Role of Solar Nuclear Evolution and Magnetic Activity on Earth's Atmosphere and Climate |chapterurl=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2002ASPC..269...85G |editor=Montesinos, Benjamin; Gimenez, Alvaro; Guinan, Edward F. |title=The Evolving Sun and its Influence on Planetary Environments |publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific |location=San Francisco |year=2002 |isbn=1-58381-109-5 |page=85 |series=ASP Conference Proceedings |volume=269}}</ref> Land plants only became widespread after 400Ma, during the Devonian (D) period, and their diversification (along with the evolution of leaves) may have been partially driven by a decrease in {{CO2}} concentration.<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Beerling |title=The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=9780199548149 }}</ref>


The first reproducibly accurate measurements of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> were from flask sample measurements made by [[Charles David Keeling|Dave Keeling]] at [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]] in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Early Keeling Curve {{pipe}} Scripps {{CO2}} Program |url=https://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/history_legacy/early_keeling_curve.html |website=scrippsco2.ucsd.edu |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008043137/https://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/history_legacy/early_keeling_curve.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Measurements at Mauna Loa have been ongoing since 1958. Additionally, measurements are also made at many other sites around the world. Many measurement sites are part of larger global networks. Global network data are often made publicly available.
Towards the left-hand side of the graph the sun gradually approaches modern levels of solar output, while vegetation spreads, removing large amounts of {{CO2}} from the atmosphere. The last 200 million years includes periods of extreme warmth, and sea levels so high that 200 metre-deep shallow seas formed on continental land masses (for example, at 100Ma during the Cretaceous (K) Greenhouse).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Foellmi |first=K.B. |title=Early Cretaceous life, climate and anoxia |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=33 |pages=230–257 |year=2012 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2011.12.005 }}</ref> At the far left of the graph, we see modern {{CO2}} levels and the appearance of the climate under which human species and human civilization developed.]]


=== Data networks ===
One study disputed the claim of stable {{CO2}} levels during the present interglacial of the last 10 ka. Based on an analysis of fossil leaves, Wagner et al.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Friederike | last = Wagner | coauthors = Bent Aaby and Henk Visscher | title = Rapid atmospheric {{chem|O|2}} changes associated with the 8,200-years-B.P. cooling event | journal =Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 99 | issue = 19 | year = 2002 | pages = 12011–4 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.182420699 | pmc = 129389 | pmid = 12202744 |bibcode = 2002PNAS...9912011W }}</ref> argued that {{CO2}} levels during the period 7–10 ka were significantly higher (~300 ppm) and contained substantial variations that may be correlated to climate variations. Others have disputed such claims, suggesting they are more likely to reflect calibration problems than actual changes in {{CO2}}.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Andreas | last = Indermühle | coauthors = Bernhard Stauffer, Thomas F. Stocker | title = Early Holocene Atmospheric {{CO2}} Concentrations | journal = Science | volume = 286 | issue = 5446 | year = 1999 | pages = 1815 | doi = 10.1126/science.286.5446.1815a | url = http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/286/5446/1815a }}</ref> Relevant to this dispute is the observation that Greenland ice cores often report higher and more variable {{CO2}} values than similar measurements in Antarctica. However, the groups responsible for such measurements (e.g. H. J Smith et al.<ref>{{cite journal | first = H.J. | last = Smith | coauthors = M Wahlen and D. Mastroianni | title = The {{CO2}} concentration of air trapped in GISP2 ice from the Last Glacial Maximum-Holocene transition | journal = Geophysical Research Letters | volume = 24 | issue = 1 | year = 1997 | pages = 1–4 | doi = 10.1029/96GL03700 | bibcode=1997GeoRL..24....1S}}</ref>) believe the variations in Greenland cores result from ''in situ'' decomposition of [[calcium carbonate]] dust found in the ice. When dust levels in Greenland cores are low, as they nearly always are in Antarctic cores, the researchers report good agreement between Antarctic and Greenland {{CO2}} measurements.
There are several surface measurement (including flasks and continuous in situ) networks including [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]]/[[Earth System Research Laboratories|ERSL]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/index.html |title=NOAA CCGG page Retrieved 2 March 2016 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811160744/http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> WDCGG,<ref>[http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/wdcgg/ WDCGG webpage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406090043/http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/wdcgg/|date=6 April 2016}} Retrieved 2 March 2016</ref> and RAMCES.<ref>[https://www.lsce.ipsl.fr/en/cycles-transferts/icos-ramces/ RAMCES webpage] </ref> The NOAA/ESRL Baseline Observatory Network, and the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] Network<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/co2/ |title=CDIAC CO2 page Retrieved 9 February 2016 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=13 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813142008/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/co2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> data are hosted at the [[Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center|CDIAC]] at [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory|ORNL]]. The World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), part of [[Global Atmospheric Watch|GAW]], data are hosted by the [[Japan Meteorological Agency|JMA]]. The Reseau Atmospherique de Mesure des Composes an Effet de Serre database (RAMCES) is part of [[Institute Pierre Simon Laplace|IPSL]].


From these measurements, further products are made which integrate data from the various sources. These products also address issues such as data discontinuity and sparseness. GLOBALVIEW-{{CO2}} is one of these products.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/globalview/co2/co2_intro.html |title=GLOBALVIEW-CO2 information page. Retrieved 9 February 2016 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131032546/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/globalview/co2/co2_intro.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The longest [[ice core]] record comes from East Antarctica, where ice has been sampled to an age of 800 ka.<ref name="deep ice"/> During this time, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has varied between 180–210 ppm during [[ice age]]s, increasing to 280–300 ppm during warmer [[interglacial]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hileman B |title=Ice Core Record Extended: Analyses of trapped air show current {{CO2}} at highest level in 650,000 years |journal=[[Chemical & Engineering News]] |volume=83 |issue=48 |pages=7 |date=November 2005 |url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/83/i48/8348notw1.html |issn=0009-2347}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/icecore/antarctica/vostok/vostok_data.html Vostok Ice Core Data], [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov ncdc.noaa.gov]</ref> The beginning of human agriculture during the current [[Holocene]] epoch may have been strongly connected to the atmospheric {{CO2}} increase after the last ice age ended, a fertilization effect raising plant biomass growth and reducing [[stoma]]tal conductance requirements for {{CO2}} intake, consequently reducing transpiration water losses and increasing water usage efficiency.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Richerson PJ, Boyd R, Bettinger RL |title=Was Agriculture Impossible During The Pleistocene But Mandatory During The Holocene? |journal=American Antiquity |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=387–411 |jstor=2694241 |date=July 2001 |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/boyd/AgOrigins.pdf |format=PDF |doi=10.2307/2694241}}</ref>


=== Analytical methods to investigate sources of CO<sub>2</sub> ===
On long timescales, atmospheric {{CO2}} content is determined by the balance among geochemical processes including organic carbon burial in sediments, silicate rock [[weathering]], and [[volcanism]]. The net effect of slight imbalances in the [[carbon cycle]] over tens to hundreds of millions of years has been to reduce atmospheric {{CO2}}. On a timescale of billions of years, such downward trend appears bound to continue indefinitely as occasional massive historical releases of buried carbon due to volcanism will become less frequent (as earth mantle cooling and progressive exhaustion of [[ Geothermal gradient |internal radioactive heat]] proceeds further). The rates of these processes are extremely slow; hence they are of no relevance to the atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration over the next hundreds, thousands, or millions of years.


* The burning of long-buried fossil fuels releases {{CO2}} containing carbon of different [[isotopic ratio]]s to those of living plants, enabling distinction between natural and human-caused contributions to {{CO2}} concentration.<ref name="Gosh-2003">e.g. {{cite journal |last1=Gosh |first1=Prosenjit |last2=Brand |first2=Willi A. |year=2003 |title=Stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry in global climate change research |url=http://www.bgc.mpg.de/service/iso_gas_lab/publications/PG_WB_IJMS.pdf |journal=[[International Journal of Mass Spectrometry]] |volume=228 |issue=1 |pages=1–33 |bibcode=2003IJMSp.228....1G |citeseerx=10.1.1.173.2083 |doi=10.1016/S1387-3806(03)00289-6 |quote=Global change issues have become significant due to the sustained rise in atmospheric trace gas concentrations ({{CO2}}, {{chem|N|2|O}}, {{chem|CH|4}}) over recent years, attributable to the increased per capita energy consumption of a growing global population. |access-date=2 July 2012 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811075226/http://www.bgc.mpg.de/service/iso_gas_lab/publications/PG_WB_IJMS.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
Various [[Proxy (climate)|proxy measurements]] have been used to attempt to determine atmospheric carbon dioxide levels millions of years in the past. These include [[boron]] and [[carbon]] [[isotope]] ratios in certain types of marine sediments, and the number of [[stomata]] observed on fossil plant leaves. While these measurements give much less precise estimates of carbon dioxide concentration than ice cores, there is evidence for very high {{CO2}} volume concentrations between 200 and 150 [[annum|Ma]] of over 3,000 ppm and between 600 and 400 Ma of over 6,000 ppm.<ref name="Grida"/> In more recent times, atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration continued to fall after about 60 Ma. About 34 Ma, the time of the [[Eocene–Oligocene extinction event]] and when the [[Antarctic ice sheet]] started to take its current form, {{CO2}} is found to have been about 760 ppm,<ref>{{cite web |title=New {{CO2}} data helps unlock the secrets of Antarctic formation |date=13 September 2009 |publisher=Physorg.com |url=http://www.physorg.com/news172072921.html}}</ref> and there is geochemical evidence that volume concentrations were less than 300 ppm by about 20 Ma. Carbon dioxide decrease, with a tipping point of 600 ppm, was the primary agent forcing Antarctic glaciation.<ref>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201174225.htm</ref> Low {{CO2}} concentrations may have been the stimulus that favored the evolution of [[C4 carbon fixation|C4]] plants, which increased greatly in abundance between 7 and 5 Ma.
* There are higher atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the world's population lives (and emissions originate from), compared to the southern hemisphere. This difference has increased as anthropogenic emissions have increased.<ref name="Keeling-2011">{{cite journal |last1=Keeling |first1=Charles D. |last2=Piper |first2=Stephen C. |last3=Whorf |first3=Timothy P. |last4=Keeling |first4=Ralph F. |year=2011 |title=Evolution of natural and anthropogenic fluxes of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> from 1957 to 2003 |journal=Tellus B |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |bibcode=2011TellB..63....1K |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00507.x |issn=0280-6509 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Atmospheric O{{sub|2}} levels are decreasing in Earth's atmosphere as it reacts with the carbon in fossil fuels to form {{CO2}}.<ref name="Bender-2005">{{cite journal |last1=Bender |first1=Michael L. |last2=Ho |first2=David T. |last3=Hendricks |first3=Melissa B. |last4=Mika |first4=Robert |last5=Battle |first5=Mark O. |last6=Tans |first6=Pieter P. |last7=Conway |first7=Thomas J. |last8=Sturtevant |first8=Blake |last9=Cassar |first9=Nicolas |year=2005 |title=Atmospheric O2/N2changes, 1993–2002: Implications for the partitioning of fossil fuel CO2sequestration |journal=Global Biogeochemical Cycles |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=n/a |bibcode=2005GBioC..19.4017B |doi=10.1029/2004GB002410 |issn=0886-6236 |doi-access=free}}</ref>


== Causes of the current increase ==
Assuming a future absence of human impact influencing releasing of sequestered carbon, the long term natural trend is for the plant life on land to die off altogether, as most of the remaining carbon in the atmosphere will become sequestered underground on a billion-years timescale, as natural releases of CO2 by radioactivity-driven tectonic activity will continue to slow down.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Peter Douglas |last2=Brownlee |first2=Donald |title=The life and death of planet Earth |publisher=Macmillan |year=2003 |isbn=0-8050-7512-7 |pages=117–128 }}</ref> Some microbes are capable of photosynthesis at concentrations of {{CO2}} of a few parts per million. Last life forms would probably disappear only because of rising temperatures and loss of the atmosphere when the [[Sun#Earth.27s_fate|sun]] becomes a red giant some four-billion years from now.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Caldeira |first1=Ken |last2=Kasting |first2=James F. |title=The life span of the biosphere revisited |journal=Nature |volume=360 |issue=6406 |pages=721–3 |date=December 1992 |bibcode=1992Natur.360..721C |doi=10.1038/360721a0 |pmid=11536510 }}</ref> The loss of plant life will also result in the eventual loss of oxygen (see also [[Future of the Earth]]).


=== {{anchor|Anthropogenic CO2 increase}} Anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions ===
==Relationship with oceanic concentration==
{{See also|Greenhouse gas emissions|Causes of climate change|Radiative forcing}}
{{see also|Solubility pump|Ocean acidification}}
[[File:20211026 Cumulative carbon dioxide CO2 emissions by country - bar chart.svg|thumb|upright=1.5| The US, China and Russia have cumulatively contributed the greatest amounts of {{CO2}} since 1850.<ref name="Evans-2021">{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Simon |date=5 October 2021 |title=Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change? / Historical responsibility for climate change is at the heart of debates over climate justice. |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-which-countries-are-historically-responsible-for-climate-change |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026094104/https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-which-countries-are-historically-responsible-for-climate-change |archive-date=26 October 2021 |website=CarbonBrief.org |publisher=Carbon Brief |quote=Source: Carbon Brief analysis of figures from the Global Carbon Project, CDIAC, Our World in Data, Carbon Monitor, Houghton and Nassikas (2017) and Hansis et al (2015).}}</ref>]]While {{CO2}} absorption and release is always happening as a result of natural processes, the recent rise in {{CO2}} levels in the atmosphere is known to be mainly due to human (anthropogenic) activity.<ref name="Eyring-2021">Eyring, V., N.P. Gillett, K.M. Achuta Rao, R. Barimalala, M. Barreiro Parrillo, N. Bellouin, C. Cassou, P.J. Durack, Y. Kosaka, S.  McGregor, S. Min, O. Morgenstern, and Y. Sun, 2021: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter03.pdf Chapter 3: Human Influence on the Climate System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307162843/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter03.pdf |date=7 March 2023 }}. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809131444/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ |date=9 August 2021 }} [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L.  Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 423–552, {{doi|10.1017/9781009157896.005}}</ref> Anthropogenic carbon emissions exceed the amount that can be taken up or balanced out by natural sinks.<ref name="Ballantyne-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Ballantyne |first1=A.P. |last2=Alden |first2=C.B. |last3=Miller |first3=J.B. |last4=Tans |first4=P.P. |last5=White |first5=J.W.C. |year=2012 |title=Increase in observed net carbon dioxide uptake by land and oceans during the past 50 years |journal=Nature |volume=488 |issue=7409 |pages=70–72 |bibcode=2012Natur.488...70B |doi=10.1038/nature11299 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=22859203 |s2cid=4335259}}</ref> Thus carbon dioxide has gradually accumulated in the atmosphere and, as of May 2022, its concentration is 50% above pre-industrial levels.<ref name="NOAA-June2022" />
[[File:CO2 pump hg.svg|thumb|300px|Air-sea exchange of {{CO2}}]]


The extraction and burning of fossil fuels, releasing carbon that has been [[Earth's crust|underground]] for many millions of years, has increased the atmospheric concentration of {{CO2}}.<ref name="NOAA-2020" /><ref name="carbon budget 2022" /> As of year 2019 the extraction and burning of geologic fossil carbon by humans releases over 30&nbsp;gigatonnes of {{CO2}} (9&nbsp;billion tonnes carbon) each year.<ref name="Friedlingstein-2019">Friedlingstein, P., Jones, M., O'Sullivan, M., Andrew, R., Hauck, J., Peters, G., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Sitch, S., Le Quéré, C. and 66 others (2019) "Global carbon budget 2019". ''Earth System Science Data'', '''11'''(4): 1783–1838. {{doi|10.5194/essd-11-1783-2019}}. [[File:CC-BY_icon.svg|50x50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]].</ref> This larger disruption to the natural balance is responsible for recent growth in the atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration.<ref name="NOAA-2013" /><ref name="Dlugokencky-2016">{{cite web |last1=Dlugokencky |first1=E. |date=5 February 2016 |title=Annual Mean Carbon Dioxide Data |url=ftp://aftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/products/trends/co2/co2_annmean_gl.txt |access-date=12 February 2016 |website=Earth System Research Laboratories |publisher=[[NOAA]] |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314104205/ftp://aftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/products/trends/co2/co2_annmean_gl.txt |url-status=live }}</ref> Currently about half of the carbon dioxide released from the [[Global warming|burning of fossil fuels]] is not absorbed by vegetation and the oceans and remains in the [[atmosphere]].<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=A.P. Ballantyne |author2=C.B. Alden |author3=J.B. Miller |author4=P.P. Tans |author5=J.W. C. White |year=2012 |title=Increase in observed net carbon dioxide uptake by land and oceans during the past 50 years |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=488 |issue=7409 |pages=70–72 |bibcode=2012Natur.488...70B |doi=10.1038/nature11299 |pmid=22859203 |s2cid=4335259}}</ref>
The Earth's [[ocean]]s contain a huge amount of carbon dioxide in the form of bicarbonate and carbonate ions — much more than the amount in the atmosphere. The bicarbonate is produced in reactions between rock, water, and carbon dioxide. One example is the dissolution of calcium carbonate:


Burning fossil fuels such as [[coal]], [[petroleum]], and [[natural gas]] is the leading cause of increased [[human impact on the environment|anthropogenic]] {{CO2}}; [[deforestation]] is the second major cause. In 2010, 9.14 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC, equivalent to 33.5 [[gigatonne]]s of {{CO2}} or about 4.3 ppm in Earth's atmosphere) were released from fossil fuels and cement production worldwide, compared to 6.15 GtC in 1990.<ref name="TyndallCtr">{{cite web |title=Global carbon budget 2010 (summary) |url=http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/global-carbon-budget-2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723220134/http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/global-carbon-budget-2010 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |publisher=[[Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research]]}}</ref> In addition, [[land use change]] contributed 0.87 GtC in 2010, compared to 1.45 GtC in 1990.<ref name="TyndallCtr" /> In the period 1751 to 1900, about 12 GtC were released as {{CO2}} to the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels, whereas from 1901 to 2013 the figure was about 380 GtC.<ref>Calculated from file global.1751_2013.csv in [http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/ndp030/CSV-FILES] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022125534/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/ndp030/CSV-FILES/|date=22 October 2011}} from the [[Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center]].</ref>
:{{chem|CaCO|3}} + {{CO2}} + {{chem|H|2|O}} {{unicode|⇌}} {{chem|Ca|2+}} + 2 {{chem|HCO|3|-}}


The [[International Energy Agency]] estimates that the top 1% of emitters globally each had [[Carbon footprint|carbon footprints]] of over 50 tonnes of {{CO2}} in 2021, more than 1,000 times greater than those of the bottom 1% of emitters. The global average energy-related carbon footprint is around 4.7 tonnes of {{CO2}} per person.<ref>IEA (2023), The world’s top 1% of emitters produce over 1000 times more {{CO2}} than the bottom 1%, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-world-s-top-1-of-emitters-produce-over-1000-times-more-co2-than-the-bottom-1 , License: CC BY 4.0</ref>
Reactions like this tend to buffer changes in atmospheric {{CO2}}. Since the right-hand side of the reaction produces an acidic compound, adding {{CO2}} on the left-hand side decreases the [[pH]] of sea water, a process which has been termed [[ocean acidification]] (pH of the ocean becomes acidic although the pH value remains in the alkaline range). Reactions between carbon dioxide and non-carbonate rocks also add bicarbonate to the seas. This can later undergo the reverse of the above reaction to form carbonate rocks, releasing half of the bicarbonate as {{CO2}}. Over hundreds of millions of years this has produced huge quantities of carbonate rocks.


== Roles in natural processes on Earth ==
Ultimately, most of the {{CO2}} emitted by human activities will dissolve in the ocean;<ref name=arch05>{{cite journal |author=Archer, D. |title=Fate of fossil fuel {{CO2}} in geologic time |journal=J. Geophys. Res. |volume=110 |year=2005 |doi=10.1029/2004JC002625 |bibcode=2005JGRC..11009S05A}}</ref> however, the rate at which the ocean will take it up in the future is less certain.
Even if equilibrium is reached, including dissolution of carbonate minerals, the increased concentration of bicarbonate and decreased or unchanged concentration of carbonate ion will give rise to a higher concentration of un-ionized carbonic acid and dissolved carbon dioxide gas. This, along with higher temperatures, would mean a higher equilibrium concentration of carbon dioxide in the air.


=== Greenhouse effect ===
==Irreversibility and uniqueness of carbon dioxide==
[[File:Climate Change Schematic.svg|thumb|left|Greenhouse gases allow sunlight to pass through the atmosphere, heating the planet, but then absorb and redirect the infrared radiation (heat) the planet emits]]
Carbon dioxide has unique long-term effects on climate change that are largely "irreversible" for one thousand years after emissions stop (zero further emissions) even though carbon dioxide tends toward equilibrium with the ocean on a scale of 100 years. The greenhouse gases [[methane]] and [[nitrous oxide]] do not persist over time in the same way as carbon dioxide. Even if human carbon dioxide emissions were to completely cease, atmospheric temperatures are not expected to decrease significantly in the short term.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Solomon S, Plattner GK, Knutti R, Friedlingstein P
[[File:Spectral Greenhouse Effect.png|thumb|CO<sub>2</sub> reduces the flux of thermal radiation emitted to space (causing the large dip near 667 cm<sup>−1</sup>), thereby contributing to the greenhouse effect.]]
|title=Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions
[[File:Longwave Absorption Coefficients of H2O and CO2.svg|thumb|[[Outgoing longwave radiation|Longwave-infrared]] [[absorption coefficient]]s of water vapor and carbon dioxide. For wavelengths near 15-microns, CO<sub>2</sub> is a much stronger absorber than water vapor.]]
|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

|volume=106 |issue=6 |pages=1704–9 |year=2009
{{Main|Greenhouse effect|3 = Radiative forcing}}
|month=February |pmid=19179281 |pmc=2632717 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0812721106

|url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=19179281
On Earth, carbon dioxide is the most relevant, direct [[greenhouse gas]] that is influenced by human activities. Water is responsible for most (about 36–70%) of the total greenhouse effect, and the [[Greenhouse gas#Role of water vapor|role of water vapor]] as a greenhouse gas depends on temperature. Carbon dioxide is often mentioned in the context of its increased influence as a greenhouse gas since the pre-industrial (1750) era. In 2013, the increase in CO<sub>2</sub> was estimated to be responsible for 1.82 W m<sup>−2</sup> of the 2.63 W m<sup>−2</sup> change in [[radiative forcing]] on Earth (about 70%).<ref name="IPCC-AR5">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf |title=IPCC Fifth Assessment Report – Chapter 8: Anthropogenic and Natural Radiative Forcing. |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022073632/https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|bibcode=2009PNAS..106.1704S}}</ref><ref>{{cite web

|url= http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/pr_904_en.html
Earth's natural [[greenhouse effect]] makes life as we know it possible, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere plays a significant role in providing for the relatively high temperature on Earth. The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary atmosphere warms the planet's surface beyond the temperature it would have in the absence of its atmosphere.<ref name="IPCC-2018">{{cite web |title=Annex II Glossary |url=http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/annexessglossary-e-i.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103000935/http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/annexessglossary-e-i.html |archive-date=3 November 2018 |access-date=15 October 2010 |publisher=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change}}</ref><ref name="ipcc-AR4WG1">A concise description of the greenhouse effect is given in the ''Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report,'' "What is the Greenhouse Effect?" [http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/faq-1-3.html FAQ 1.3 – AR4 WGI Chapter 1: Historical Overview of Climate Change Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130152334/https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/faq-1-3.html|date=30 November 2018}}, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Chapter 1, p. 115: "To balance the absorbed incoming [solar] energy, the Earth must, on average, radiate the same amount of energy back to space. Because the Earth is much colder than the Sun, it radiates at much longer wavelengths, primarily in the infrared part of the spectrum (see Figure 1). Much of this thermal radiation emitted by the land and ocean is absorbed by the atmosphere, including clouds, and reradiated back to Earth. This is called the greenhouse effect."<br />Stephen H. Schneider, in ''Geosphere-biosphere Interactions and Climate,'' Lennart O. Bengtsson and Claus U. Hammer, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-521-78238-4}}, pp. 90–91.<br />E. Claussen, V.A. Cochran, and D.P. Davis, ''Climate Change: Science, Strategies, & Solutions,'' University of Michigan, 2001. p. 373.<br />A. Allaby and M. Allaby, ''A Dictionary of Earth Sciences,'' Oxford University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-19-280079-5}}, p. 244.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Vaclav |last=Smil |author-link=Vaclav Smil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ntHWPMUgpMC&pg=PA107 |title=The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change |publisher=MIT Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-262-69298-4 |page=107 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314102307/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ntHWPMUgpMC&pg=PA107 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|title=2010 in the top three warmest years, 2001-2010 warmest 10-year period

|work=WMO statement on the global climate in 2010
The concept of more atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> increasing ground temperature was first published by [[Svante Arrhenius#Greenhouse effect|Svante Arrhenius]] in 1896.<ref name="Arrhenius-1896">{{cite journal |first=Svante |last=Arrhenius |title=On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground |journal=Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science |date=1896 |pages=237–76 |url=http://www.rsc.org/images/Arrhenius1896_tcm18-173546.pdf |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=18 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118065555/https://www.rsc.org/images/Arrhenius1896_tcm18-173546.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The increased radiative forcing due to increased CO<sub>2</sub> in the Earth's atmosphere is based on the physical properties of CO<sub>2</sub> and the non-saturated absorption windows where CO<sub>2</sub> absorbs outgoing long-wave energy. The increased forcing drives further changes in [[Earth's energy balance]] and, over the longer term, in Earth's climate.<ref name="Eyring-2021" />
|publisher=World Meteorological Organization

|year=2010
=== Carbon cycle ===
|accessdate=2011-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
{{Main | Carbon cycle| Atmospheric carbon cycle}}
| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26cohen.html
[[File:Carbon cycle.jpg|thumb|left|This diagram of the carbon cycle shows the movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans in billions of metric tons of carbon per year. Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, red are human contributions, white are stored carbon.<ref name="Riebeek-2011">{{cite web|last1=Riebeek|first1=Holli|title=The Carbon Cycle|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/?src=eoa-features|website=Earth Observatory|publisher=NASA|access-date=5 April 2018|date=16 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010126/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/?src=eoa-features|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>]]
| work=The New York Times | first=Judah | last=Cohen | title=Bundle Up, It's Global Warming
Atmospheric carbon dioxide plays an integral role in the Earth's [[carbon cycle]] whereby {{CO2}} is removed from the atmosphere by some natural processes such as [[photosynthesis]] and deposition of [[carbonates]], to form limestones for example, and added back to the atmosphere by other natural processes such as [[Cellular respiration|respiration]] and the acid dissolution of carbonate deposits. There are two broad carbon cycles on Earth: the fast carbon cycle and the slow carbon cycle. The fast carbon cycle refers to movements of carbon between the environment and living things in the [[biosphere]] whereas the slow carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, soil, rocks, and volcanism. Both cycles are intrinsically interconnected and atmospheric {{CO2}} facilitates the linkage.
| date=2010-12-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/04/sulphur-pollution-china-coal-climate | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Damian | last=Carrington | title=Sulphur from Chinese power stations 'masking' climate change | date=2011-07-04}}</ref>

Natural sources of atmospheric {{CO2}} include [[volcanic]] [[outgassing]], the [[combustion]] of [[organic compound|organic matter]], [[wildfires]] and the [[Respiration (physiology)|respiration]] processes of living [[aerobic organism]]s. Man-made sources of {{CO2}} include the burning of [[fossil fuels]], as well as some industrial processes such as cement making.

[[File:Global carbon budget components.png|thumb|Annual {{CO2}} flows from anthropogenic sources (left) into Earth's atmosphere, land, and ocean sinks (right) since year 1960. Units in equivalent gigatonnes carbon per year.<ref name="Friedlingstein-2019"/>]]
Natural sources of {{CO2}} are more or less balanced by natural [[Carbon sink|carbon sinks]], in the form of chemical and biological processes which remove {{CO2}} from the atmosphere. For example, the decay of organic material in forests, grasslands, and other land vegetation - including forest fires - results in the release of about 436&nbsp;[[tonne|gigatonnes]] of {{CO2}} (containing 119&nbsp;gigatonnes carbon) every year, while {{CO2}} uptake by new growth on land counteracts these releases, absorbing 451 Gt (123 Gt C).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/gtr/gtr_wo95.pdf |title=Considering Forest and Grassland Carbon in Land Management |last1=Kayler |first1=Z. |last2=Janowiak |first2=M. |last3=Swanston |first3=C. |journal=General Technical Report WTO-GTR-95 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service |chapter=The Global Carbon Cycle |pages=3–9 |year=2017 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707152049/https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/gtr/gtr_wo95.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Although much {{CO2}} in the early atmosphere of the young Earth was produced by [[volcano|volcanic activity]], modern volcanic activity releases only 130 to 230&nbsp;[[tonne|megatonnes]] of {{CO2}} each year.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gerlach, T.M. |title=Present-day CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from volcanoes |journal=[[Eos (journal)|Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union]] |volume=72 |issue=23 |pages=249, 254–55 |date=4 June 1991 |doi=10.1029/90EO10192 |bibcode=1991EOSTr..72..249.}}</ref>

From the human pre-industrial era to 1940, the terrestrial biosphere represented a net source of atmospheric {{CO2}} (driven largely by [[land-use change]]s), but subsequently switched to a net sink with growing fossil carbon emissions.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Junling Huang |author2=Michael B. McElroy |year=2012 |title=The Contemporary and Historical Budget of Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> |url=http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10981610/The%20contemporary%20and%20historical%20budget%20of%20atmospheric%20CO2_1%202.pdf?sequence=9 |url-status=live |journal=Canadian Journal of Physics |volume=90 |issue=8 |pages=707–16 |bibcode=2012CaJPh..90..707H |doi=10.1139/p2012-033 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803143812/https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10981610/The%20contemporary%20and%20historical%20budget%20of%20atmospheric%20CO2_1%202.pdf?sequence=9 |archive-date=3 August 2017 |access-date=14 March 2023}}</ref>
==== Oceanic carbon cycle ====
{{Main|Oceanic carbon cycle|Biological pump}}
[[File:CO2 pump hg.svg|thumb|Air-sea exchange of {{CO2}}]]

The Earth's oceans contain a large amount of {{CO2}} in the form of bicarbonate and carbonate ions—much more than the amount in the atmosphere. The bicarbonate is produced in reactions between rock, water, and carbon dioxide.

From 1850 until 2022, the ocean has absorbed 26% of total anthropogenic emissions.<ref name="carbon budget 2022" /> However, the rate at which the ocean will take it up in the future is less certain. Even if equilibrium is reached, including dissolution of carbonate minerals, the increased concentration of bicarbonate and decreased or unchanged concentration of carbonate ion will give rise to a higher concentration of un-ionized carbonic acid and dissolved {{CO2}}. This higher concentration in the seas, along with higher temperatures, would mean a higher equilibrium concentration of {{CO2}} in the air.<ref name="Friedlingstein-2009">{{cite journal |author=[[Susan Solomon]] |author2=Gian-Kasper Plattner |author3=Reto Knutti |author4=Pierre Friedlingstein |date=February 2009 |title=Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=106 |issue=6 |pages=1704–09 |bibcode=2009PNAS..106.1704S |doi=10.1073/pnas.0812721106 |pmc=2632717 |pmid=19179281 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="ArcherEby2009">{{cite journal |last1=Archer |first1=David |last2=Eby |first2=Michael |last3=Brovkin |first3=Victor |last4=Ridgwell |first4=Andy |last5=Cao |first5=Long |last6=Mikolajewicz |first6=Uwe |last7=Caldeira |first7=Ken |last8=Matsumoto |first8=Katsumi |last9=Munhoven |first9=Guy |last10=Montenegro |first10=Alvaro |last11=Tokos |first11=Kathy |year=2009 |title=Atmospheric Lifetime of Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide |url=http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/12933 |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=117–34 |bibcode=2009AREPS..37..117A |doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.031208.100206 |issn=0084-6597 |hdl=2268/12933 |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314104229/https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/12933 |url-status=live |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

== Effects of current increase ==

=== Direct effects ===
[[File:Physical Drivers of climate change.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Radiative forcing|Physical drivers]] of global warming that has happened so far. Future [[global warming potential]] for long lived drivers like carbon dioxide emissions is not represented. Whiskers on each bar show the possible [[Observational error|error range]].]]

Direct effects of increasing CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations in the atmosphere include [[Instrumental temperature record|increasing global temperatures]], [[ocean acidification]] and a [[CO2 fertilization effect|CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization effect]] on plants and crops.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keeling |first=Charles D. |date=1997-08-05 |title=Climate change and carbon dioxide: An introduction |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=94 |issue=16 |pages=8273–8274 |doi=10.1073/pnas.94.16.8273 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=33714 |pmid=11607732|bibcode=1997PNAS...94.8273K |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Temperature rise on land====
{{excerpt|Instrumental temperature record#Total warming and trends|paragraphs=1-2|file=no}}

====Temperature rise in oceans====
{{See also|Ocean heat content}}
{{excerpt|Effects of climate change on oceans#Rising ocean temperature|paragraphs=1-2|file=no}}

==== Ocean acidification ====
{{excerpt|ocean acidification|paragraphs=1-2}}

==== CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization effect ====
{{excerpt|CO2 fertilization effect|displaytitle={{CO2}} fertilization effect|paragraphs=1-3|file=no}}

====Other direct effects====
{{CO2}} emissions have also led to the stratosphere contracting by 400 meters since 1980, which could affect satellite operations, GPS systems and radio communications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pisoft |first1=Petr |date=May 25, 2021 |title=Stratospheric contraction caused by increasing greenhouse gases |journal=Environmental Research Letters |volume=16 |issue=6 |page=064038 |bibcode=2021ERL....16f4038P |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/abfe2b |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Indirect effects and impacts ===
{{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 400
| image1 = 062821Yreka Fire CalFire -2wiki.jpg
| alt1 = Thick orange-brown smoke blocks half a blue sky, with conifers in the foreground
| image2 = Bleachedcoral.jpg
| alt2 = A few grey fish swim over grey coral with white spikes
| image3 = Village Telly in Mali.jpg
| alt3 = Desert sand half covers a village of small flat-roofed houses with scattered green trees
| image4 = US Navy 071120-M-8966H-005 An aerial view over southern Bangladesh reveals extensive flooding as a result of Cyclone Sidr.jpg
| alt4 = large areas of still water behind riverside buildings
| footer = Some climate change effects, clockwise from top left: [[Wildfire]] caused by heat and dryness, [[Coral bleaching|bleached coral]] caused by ocean acidification and heating, [[coastal flooding]] caused by [[storm]]s and sea level rise, and [[environmental migration]] caused by [[desertification]]
}}

{{excerpt|effects of climate change|paragraphs=1}}
{{excerpt|effects of climate change on oceans|paragraphs=1}}

== Approaches for reducing CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations ==
[[File:Following Carbon Dioxide Through the Atmosphere.webm|thumb|A model of the behavior of carbon in the atmosphere from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015. The height of Earth's atmosphere and topography have been vertically exaggerated and appear approximately 40 times higher than normal to show the complexity of the atmospheric flow.]]
{{Main|Climate change mitigation|Carbon sequestration|Carbon dioxide removal|Carbon capture and storage}}
Carbon dioxide has unique long-term effects on climate change that are nearly "irreversible" for a thousand years after emissions stop (zero further emissions). The greenhouse gases [[methane]] and [[nitrous oxide]] do not persist over time in the same way as carbon dioxide. Even if human carbon dioxide emissions were to completely cease, atmospheric temperatures are not expected to decrease significantly in the short term. This is because the air temperature is determined by a balance between heating, due to greenhouse gases, and cooling due to heat transfer to the ocean. If emissions were to stop, CO<sub>2</sub> levels and the heating effect would slowly decrease, but simultaneously the cooling due to heat transfer would diminish (because sea temperatures would get closer to the air temperature), with the result that the air temperature would decrease only slowly. Sea temperatures would continue to rise, causing thermal expansion and some sea level rise.<ref name="Friedlingstein-2009" /> Lowering global temperatures more rapidly would require [[carbon sequestration]] or [[geoengineering]].

Various techniques have been proposed for removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
{{excerpt|carbon dioxide removal|paragraphs=1|file=no}}

==Concentrations in the geologic past==
{{See also|Paleoclimatology|Great Oxidation Event|Faint young Sun paradox}}
[[File:Phanerozoic Carbon Dioxide.png|thumb|{{CO2}} concentrations over the last 500 Million years|315x315px]]
[[File:CO2 40k.png|thumb|Concentration of atmospheric {{CO2}} over the last 40,000 years, from the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] to the present day. The current rate of increase is much higher than at any point during the last [[deglaciation]].]]
Estimates in 2023 found that the current carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere may be the highest it has been in the last 14 million years.<ref name="Ahmed-2023" /> However the [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]] estimated similar levels 3 to 3.3 million years ago in the [[Pliocene climate#Mid-Pliocene and future climate|mid-Pliocene warm period]]. This period can be a [[Proxy (climate)|proxy]] for likely climate outcomes with current levels of {{CO2}}.<ref>Gulev, S.K., P.W. Thorne, J. Ahn, F.J. Dentener, C.M. Domingues, S. Gerland, D. Gong, D.S. Kaufman, H.C. Nnamchi, J.  Quaas, J.A. Rivera, S. Sathyendranath, S.L. Smith, B. Trewin, K. von Schuckmann, and R.S. Vose, 2021: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter02.pdf Chapter 2: Changing State of the Climate System]. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R.  Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 287–422, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.004.</ref>{{rp|Figure 2.34}}

Carbon dioxide is believed to have played an important effect in regulating Earth's temperature throughout its 4.54 billion year history. Early in the Earth's life, scientists have found evidence of liquid water indicating a warm world even though the Sun's output is believed to have only been 70% of what it is today. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations in the early Earth's atmosphere might help explain this [[faint young sun paradox]]. When Earth first formed, [[Earth's atmosphere]] may have contained more greenhouse gases and {{CO2}} concentrations may have been higher, with estimated [[partial pressure]] as large as {{convert|1000|kPa|bar|abbr=on|lk=on}}, because there was no bacterial [[photosynthesis]] to [[redox|reduce]] the gas to carbon compounds and oxygen. [[Methane]], a very active greenhouse gas, may have been more prevalent as well.<ref name="Walker-1985">{{cite journal |last=Walker |first=James C.G. |date=June 1985 |title=Carbon dioxide on the early earth |url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43349/1/11084_2005_Article_BF01809466.pdf |journal=Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=117–27 |bibcode=1985OrLi...16..117W |doi=10.1007/BF01809466 |pmid=11542014 |access-date=2010-01-30 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2027.42/43349 |s2cid=206804461 |archive-date=14 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914033408/http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43349/1/11084_2005_Article_BF01809466.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Pavlov, Alexander A. |author2=Kasting, James F. |author3=Brown, Lisa L. |author4=Rages, Kathy A. |author5=Freedman, Richard |date=May 2000 |title=Greenhouse warming by CH<sub>4</sub> in the atmosphere of early Earth |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=105 |issue=E5 |pages=11981–90 |bibcode=2000JGR...10511981P |doi=10.1029/1999JE001134 |pmid=11543544 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Carbon dioxide concentrations have shown several cycles of variation from about 180 parts per million during the deep glaciations of the [[Holocene]] and [[Pleistocene]] to 280 parts per million during the interglacial periods. Carbon dioxide concentrations have varied widely over the Earth's history. It is believed to have been present in Earth's first atmosphere, shortly after Earth's formation. The second atmosphere, consisting largely of [[nitrogen]] and {{Chem|C|O|2}} was produced by outgassing from [[volcanism]], supplemented by gases produced during the [[late heavy bombardment]] of Earth by huge [[asteroids]].<ref name="Zahnle-2010">{{cite journal |last1=Zahnle |first1=K. |last2=Schaefer |first2=L. |author2-link=Laura K. Schaefer |last3=Fegley |first3=B. |year=2010 |title=Earth's Earliest Atmospheres |journal=Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology |volume=2 |issue=10 |pages=a004895 |doi=10.1101/cshperspect.a004895 |pmc=2944365 |pmid=20573713}}</ref> A major part of carbon dioxide emissions were soon dissolved in water and incorporated in carbonate sediments.

The production of free oxygen by [[cyanobacteria]]l photosynthesis eventually led to the [[Great Oxygenation Event|oxygen catastrophe]] that ended Earth's second atmosphere and brought about the Earth's third atmosphere (the modern atmosphere) 2.4 billion years ago. Carbon dioxide concentrations dropped from 4,000 parts per million during the [[Cambrian|Cambrian period]] about 500 million years ago to as low as 180 parts per million 20,000 years ago .<ref name="Eggleton-2013" /><!-- It is unclear if this figure is based on modeled data, or reconstructions. -->

=== Drivers of ancient-Earth CO<sub>2</sub> concentration ===
{{See also|Biogeochemical cycle}}

On long timescales, atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration is determined by the balance among [[Geochemical cycle|geochemical processes]] including organic carbon burial in sediments, silicate rock [[weathering]], and [[Volcanic gas|volcanic degassing]]. The net effect of slight imbalances in the [[carbon cycle]] over tens to hundreds of millions of years has been to reduce atmospheric {{CO2}}. On a timescale of billions of years, such downward trend appears bound to continue indefinitely as occasional massive historical releases of buried carbon due to volcanism will become less frequent (as earth mantle cooling and progressive exhaustion of [[Geothermal gradient|internal radioactive heat]] proceed further). The rates of these processes are extremely slow; hence they are of no relevance to the atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration over the next hundreds or thousands of years.

=== Photosynthesis in the geologic past ===
Over the course of Earth's geologic history {{CO2}} concentrations have played a role in biological evolution. The first photosynthetic organisms probably [[evolution|evolved]] early in the [[evolutionary history of life]] and most likely used [[reducing agent]]s such as [[hydrogen]] or [[hydrogen sulfide]] as sources of electrons, rather than water.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Olson JM |date=May 2006 |title=Photosynthesis in the Archean era |journal=Photosynth. Res. |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=109–17 |doi=10.1007/s11120-006-9040-5 |pmid=16453059 |bibcode=2006PhoRe..88..109O |s2cid=20364747}}</ref> Cyanobacteria appeared later, and the excess oxygen they produced contributed to the [[oxygen catastrophe]],<ref name="Buick R-2008">{{cite journal |author=Buick R |date=August 2008 |title=When did oxygenic photosynthesis evolve? |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |volume=363 |issue=1504 |pages=2731–43 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0041 |pmc=2606769 |pmid=18468984|bibcode=2008RSPTB.363.2731B }}</ref> which rendered the [[Evolution of multicellularity|evolution of complex life]] possible. In recent geologic times, low {{CO2}} concentrations below 600 parts per million might have been the stimulus that favored the evolution of [[C4 carbon fixation|{{C4}}]] plants which increased greatly in abundance between 7 and 5 million years ago over plants that use the less efficient [[C3 carbon fixation|{{C3}}]] metabolic pathway.<ref name="Beerling-2006">{{cite journal |author=Osborne, C.P. |author2=Beerling, D.J. |author-link2=David Beerling |year=2006 |title=Nature's green revolution: the remarkable evolutionary rise of {{C4}} plants |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=361 |issue=1465 |pages=173–94 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1737 |pmc=1626541 |pmid=16553316}}</ref> At current atmospheric pressures photosynthesis shuts down when atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations fall below 150 ppm and 200 ppm although some microbes can extract carbon from the air at much lower concentrations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lovelock |first1=J. E. |year=1972 |title=Gaia as seen through the atmosphere |url=http://www.jameslovelock.org/page33.html/ |url-status=dead |journal=Atmospheric Environment |volume=6 |issue=8 |pages=579–580 |bibcode=1972AtmEn...6..579L |doi=10.1016/0004-6981(72)90076-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103150707/http://www.jameslovelock.org/page33.html |archive-date=2011-11-03 |access-date=2014-03-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=K.-F. |date=2009-05-30 |title=Atmospheric pressure as a natural climate regulator for a terrestrial planet with a biosphere |url=http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/06/01/0809436106.full.pdf+html |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=106 |issue=24 |pages=9576–9579 |bibcode=2009PNAS..106.9576L |doi=10.1073/pnas.0809436106 |pmc=2701016 |pmid=19487662 |access-date=2014-03-22 |doi-access=free |archive-date=12 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212184727/http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/06/01/0809436106.full.pdf+html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Measuring ancient-Earth CO<sub>2</sub> concentration ===
{{See also|Proxy (climate)|label 1=Climate reconstruction proxies}}
[[File:Vostok Petit data.svg|thumb|Over 400,000 years of ice core data: Graph of CO<sub>2</sub> (green), reconstructed temperature (blue) and dust (red) from the Vostok ice core]]
[[File:Temperature-change-and-carbon-dioxide-change-measured-from-the-EPICA-Dome-C-ice-core-in-Antarctica-v2.jpg|thumb|Correspondence between temperature and atmospheric {{CO2}} during the last 800,000 years]]<!--alternative: File:Co2-temperature-records.svg -->

The most direct method for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for periods before instrumental sampling is to measure bubbles of air ([[fluid inclusions|fluid or gas inclusions]]) trapped in the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] or [[Greenland]] ice sheets. The most widely accepted of such studies come from a variety of Antarctic cores and indicate that atmospheric {{CO2}} concentrations were about 260–280 ppm immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding 10,000 [[annum|years]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Etheridge |first1=D.M. |last2=Steele |first2=L.P. |last3=Langenfelds |first3=R.L. |last4=Francey |first4=R.J. |last5=Barnola |first5=JM |last6=Morgan |first6=VI |date=June 1998 |title=Historical CO<sub>2</sub> record derived from a spline fit (20-year cutoff) of the Law Dome DE08 and DE08-2 ice cores |url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/co2/lawdome.smoothed.yr20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305110732/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/co2/lawdome.smoothed.yr20 |archive-date=5 March 2012 |access-date=2007-06-12 |website=Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center |publisher=[[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flückiger |first1=Jacqueline |year=2002 |title=High-resolution Holocene {{chem|N|2|O}} ice core record and its relationship with {{chem|CH|4}} and CO<sub>2</sub> |journal=Global Biogeochemical Cycles |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=1010 |bibcode=2002GBioC..16.1010F |doi=10.1029/2001GB001417 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The longest [[ice core]] record comes from East Antarctica, where ice has been sampled to an age of 800,000 years.<ref name="Amos-2006">{{cite news |last1=Amos |first1=J. |date=4 September 2006 |title=Deep ice tells long climate story |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5314592.stm |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-date=23 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123202651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5314592.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> During this time, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has varied between 180 and 210 ppm during [[ice age]]s, increasing to 280–300 ppm during warmer [[interglacial]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hileman B. |date=November 2005 |title=Ice Core Record Extended: Analyses of trapped air show current CO<sub>2</sub> at highest level in 650,000 years |url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/83/i48/8348notw1.html |journal=[[Chemical & Engineering News]] |volume=83 |issue=48 |pages=7 |doi=10.1021/cen-v083n048.p007 |issn=0009-2347 |access-date=28 January 2010 |archive-date=15 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515033556/http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/83/i48/8348notw1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/icecore/antarctica/vostok/vostok_data.html Vostok Ice Core Data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227064302/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/icecore/antarctica/vostok/vostok_data.html |date=27 February 2015 }}, [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov ncdc.noaa.gov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422034738/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ |date=22 April 2021 }}</ref>

{{CO2}} 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. One study using evidence from [[stomata]] of fossilized leaves suggests greater variability, with {{CO2}} mole fractions above 300&nbsp;ppm during the period ten to seven thousand years ago,<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Friederike Wagner |author2=Bent Aaby |author3=Henk Visscher |year=2002 |title=Rapid atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> changes associated with the 8,200-years-B.P. cooling event |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=99 |issue=19 |pages=12011–14 |bibcode=2002PNAS...9912011W |doi=10.1073/pnas.182420699 |pmc=129389 |pmid=12202744 |doi-access=free}}</ref> though others have argued that these findings more likely reflect calibration or contamination problems rather than actual CO<sub>2</sub> variability.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Andreas Indermühle |author2=Bernhard Stauffer |author3=Thomas F. Stocker |year=1999 |title=Early Holocene Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> Concentrations |journal=Science |volume=286 |issue=5446 |page=1815 |doi=10.1126/science.286.5446.1815a |doi-access=free}} {{cite journal |last1=IndermÜhle |first1=A |year=1999 |title=Early Holocene atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>concentrations |journal=Science |volume=286 |issue=5446 |pages=1815a–15 |doi=10.1126/science.286.5446.1815a |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=H. J. Smith |author2=M. Wahlen |author3=D. Mastroianni |year=1997 |title=The CO<sub>2</sub> concentration of air trapped in GISP2 ice from the Last Glacial Maximum-Holocene transition |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=1–4 |bibcode=1997GeoRL..24....1S |doi=10.1029/96GL03700 |s2cid=129667062}}</ref> Because of the way air is trapped in ice (pores in the ice close off slowly to form bubbles deep within the [[firn]]) and the time period represented in each ice sample analyzed, these figures represent averages of atmospheric concentrations of up to a few centuries rather than annual or decadal levels.

Ice cores provide evidence for greenhouse gas concentration variations over the past 800,000 years. Both CO<sub>2</sub> and {{chem|CH|4}} concentrations vary between glacial and interglacial phases, and these variations correlate strongly with temperature. Direct data does not exist for periods earlier than those represented in the ice core record, a record that indicates that CO<sub>2</sub> mole fractions stayed within a range of 180&nbsp;ppm to 280&nbsp;ppm throughout the last 800,000 years, until the increase of the last 250 years. However, various [[Proxy (climate)|proxy measurements]] and models suggest larger variations in past epochs: 500&nbsp;million years ago CO<sub>2</sub> levels were likely 10 times higher than now.<ref>[[:File:Phanerozoic Carbon Dioxide.png]]</ref>

Various proxy measurements have been used to try to determine atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations millions of years in the past. These include [[boron]] and [[carbon]] [[isotope]] ratios in certain types of marine sediments, and the numbers of [[stomata]] observed on fossil plant leaves.<ref name="Beerling-2006" />

[[Phytane]] is a type of [[diterpenoid]] [[alkane]]. It is a breakdown product of chlorophyll, and is now used to estimate ancient {{CO2}} levels.<ref name="Witkowski-2018">{{cite journal |last1=Witkowski |first1=Caitlyn |date=28 November 2018 |title=Molecular fossils from phytoplankton reveal secular pCO<sub>2</sub> trend over the Phanerozoic |journal=Science Advances |volume=2 |issue=11 |pages=eaat4556 |bibcode=2018SciA....4.4556W |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aat4556 |pmc=6261654 |pmid=30498776}}</ref> Phytane gives both a continuous record of {{CO2}} concentrations but it also can overlap a break in the {{CO2}} record of over 500 million years.<ref name="Witkowski-2018" />

==== 600 to 400 million years ago ====
There is evidence for high {{CO2}} concentrations of over 6,000 ppm between 600 and 400 million years ago, and of over 3,000 ppm between 200 and 150 million years ago.<ref name="IPCC-2001">{{Cite web |title=IPCC: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/07/WG1_TAR_FM.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829124925/https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/07/WG1_TAR_FM.pdf |archive-date=29 August 2022 |access-date=14 March 2023}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2024}}

Indeed, higher CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations are thought to have prevailed throughout most of the [[Phanerozoic]] [[Eon (geology)|Eon]], with concentrations four to six times current concentrations during the Mesozoic era, and ten to fifteen times current concentrations during the early Palaeozoic era until the middle of the [[Devonian]] period, about 400 million years ago.<ref name="Berner-1994">{{cite journal |last=Berner |first=Robert A. |date=January 1994 |title=GEOCARB II: a revised model of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> over Phanerozoic time |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=294 |issue=1 |pages=56–91 |bibcode=1994AmJS..294...56B |doi=10.2475/ajs.294.1.56 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Royer |first=D.L. |author2=R.A. Berner |author3=D.J. Beerling |author-link3=David Beerling |year=2001 |title=Phanerozoic atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> change: evaluating geochemical and paleobiological approaches |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=349–92 |bibcode=2001ESRv...54..349R |doi=10.1016/S0012-8252(00)00042-8}}</ref><ref name="Berner-2001">{{cite journal |last=Berner |first=Robert A. |author2=Kothavala, Zavareth |year=2001 |title=GEOCARB III: a revised model of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> over Phanerozoic time |url=https://earth.geology.yale.edu/~ajs/2001/Feb/qn020100182.pdf |url-status=live |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=301 |issue=2 |pages=182–204 |bibcode=2001AmJS..301..182B |citeseerx=10.1.1.393.582 |doi=10.2475/ajs.301.2.182 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060425205109/https://earth.geology.yale.edu/~ajs/2001/Feb/qn020100182.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2006}}</ref> The spread of land plants is thought to have reduced CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations during the late Devonian, and plant activities as both sources and sinks of CO<sub>2</sub> have since been important in providing stabilizing feedbacks.<ref name="Beerling-2005">{{cite journal |last=Beerling |first=D.J. |author-link=David Beerling |author2=Berner, R.A. |year=2005 |title=Feedbacks and the co-evolution of plants and atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=102 |issue=5 |pages=1302–05 |bibcode=2005PNAS..102.1302B |doi=10.1073/pnas.0408724102 |pmc=547859 |pmid=15668402 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Earlier still, a 200-million year period of intermittent, widespread glaciation extending close to the equator ([[Snowball Earth]]) appears to have been ended suddenly, about 550 Ma, by a colossal volcanic outgassing that raised the {{CO2}} concentration of the atmosphere abruptly to 12%, about 350 times modern levels, causing extreme greenhouse conditions and carbonate deposition as [[limestone]] at the rate of about 1&nbsp;mm per day.<ref name="Hoffmann-1998">{{cite journal |last=Hoffmann |first=PF |author2=AJ Kaufman |author3=GP Halverson |author4=DP Schrag |year=1998 |title=A neoproterozoic snowball earth |journal=Science |volume=281 |issue=5381 |pages=1342–46 |bibcode=1998Sci...281.1342H |doi=10.1126/science.281.5381.1342 |pmid=9721097 |s2cid=13046760}}</ref> This episode marked the close of the [[Precambrian]] Eon, and was succeeded by the generally warmer conditions of the Phanerozoic, during which multicellular animal and plant life evolved. No volcanic CO<sub>2</sub> emission of comparable scale has occurred since. In the modern era, emissions to the atmosphere from volcanoes are approximately 0.645&nbsp;billion tons of {{CO2}} per year, whereas humans contribute 29&nbsp;billion tons of {{CO2}} each year.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Siegel |first=Ethan |title=How Much CO2 Does A Single Volcano Emit? |language=en |work=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/06/06/how-much-co2-does-a-single-volcano-emit/ |url-status=live |access-date=2018-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606122158/https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/06/06/how-much-co2-does-a-single-volcano-emit/ |archive-date=6 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Hoffmann-1998" /><ref name="Gerlach-1991">{{cite journal |last=Gerlach |first=TM |year=1991 |title=Present-day CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from volcanoes |journal=Transactions of the American Geophysical Union |volume=72 |issue=23 |pages=249–55 |bibcode=1991EOSTr..72..249. |doi=10.1029/90EO10192}}</ref><ref>See also: {{cite web |date=14 June 2011 |title=U.S. Geological Survey |url=http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2827&from=rss_home |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925170105/http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2827&from=rss_home |archive-date=25 September 2012 |access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref>

==== 60 to 5 million years ago ====
Atmospheric {{CO2}} concentration continued to fall after about 60 million years ago. About 34 million years ago, the time of the [[Eocene–Oligocene extinction event]] and when the [[Antarctic ice sheet]] started to take its current form, {{CO2}} was about 760 ppm,<ref>{{cite web |date=13 September 2009 |title=New CO<sub>2</sub> data helps unlock the secrets of Antarctic formation |url=http://www.physorg.com/news172072921.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715082838/http://www.physorg.com/news172072921.html |archive-date=15 July 2011 |access-date=28 January 2010 |publisher=Physorg.com}}</ref> and there is geochemical evidence that concentrations were less than 300 ppm by about 20 million years ago. Decreasing {{CO2}} concentration, with a tipping point of 600 ppm, was the primary agent forcing Antarctic glaciation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pagani |first1=Mark |last2=Huber |first2=Matthew |last3=Liu |first3=Zhonghui |last4=Bohaty |first4=Steven M. |last5=Henderiks |first5=Jorijntje |last6=Sijp |first6=Willem |last7=Krishnan |first7=Srinath |last8=Deconto |first8=Robert M. |date=2 December 2011 |title=Drop in carbon dioxide levels led to polar ice sheet, study finds |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201174225.htm |url-status=live |journal=Science |volume=334 |issue=6060 |pages=1261–4 |bibcode=2011Sci...334.1261P |doi=10.1126/science.1203909 |pmid=22144622 |s2cid=206533232 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522065758/http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201174225.htm |archive-date=22 May 2013 |access-date=14 May 2013}}</ref> Low {{CO2}} concentrations may have been the stimulus that favored the evolution of [[C4 carbon fixation|{{C4}}]] plants, which increased greatly in abundance between 7 and 5 million years ago.<ref name="Beerling-2006" />

{{anchor|Greenhouse gas#water vapor feedback|Greenhouse gas#water-vapor feedback}}


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Carbon budget]]
{{Portal|Energy}}
* [[Global temperature record]]
*[[Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change]] — A Scientific Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases
*[[Carbon cycle]]
*[[Carbon dioxide equivalent]]
*[[Climate change]]
*[[Eddy covariance]] flux (aka eddy correlation, eddy flux)
*[[Global warming]]
*[[Greenhouse effect]]
*[[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita]]
*[[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions]]
*[[List of countries by ratio of GDP to carbon dioxide emissions]]
*[[Ocean acidification]]
*[[Snowball Earth]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
{{global warming}}
*[https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/chem/surface/level/overlay=co2sc/winkel3 Current global map of carbon dioxide concentrations.]
*[https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-releases-new-eye-popping-view-of-carbon-dioxide Global Carbon Dioxide Circulation] ([[NASA]]; 13 December 2016)
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1SgmFa0r04 Video (03:10) – A Year in the Life of Earth's {{CO2}}] ([[NASA]]; 17 November 2014)

{{Portal bar|Energy|Global warming|Earth sciences}}{{Climate change}}{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:Atmosphere]]
[[Category:Atmosphere of Earth]]
[[Category:Carbon dioxide]]
[[Category:Carbon dioxide]]
[[Category:Greenhouse gases]]
[[Category:Greenhouse gases]]
[[Category:Atmosphere of Earth]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Global warming]]
[[Category:Carbon]]


[[fr:Dioxyde de carbone#CO2 dans l'atmosphère terrestre]]
[[de:Kohlenstoffdioxid in der Erdatmosphäre]]
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Latest revision as of 01:21, 16 November 2024

Atmospheric CO2 concentration measured at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii from 1958 to 2023 (also called the Keeling Curve). The rise in CO2 over that time period is clearly visible. The concentration is expressed as μmole per mole, or ppm.

In Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide is a trace gas that plays an integral part in the greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, photosynthesis and oceanic carbon cycle. It is one of three main greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of Earth. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere reached 427 ppm (0.04%) in 2024.[1] This is an increase of 50% since the start of the Industrial Revolution, up from 280 ppm during the 10,000 years prior to the mid-18th century.[2][3][4] The increase is due to human activity.[5]

The current increase in CO2 concentrations primarily driven by the burning of fossil fuels.[6] Other significant human activities that emit CO2 include cement production, deforestation, and biomass burning. The increase in atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other long-lived greenhouse gases such as methane increase the absorption and emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere. This has led to a rise in average global temperature and ocean acidification. Another direct effect is the CO2 fertilization effect. The increase in atmospheric concentrations of CO2 causes a range of further effects of climate change on the environment and human living conditions.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It absorbs and emits infrared radiation at its two infrared-active vibrational frequencies. The two wavelengths are 4.26 μm (2,347 cm−1) (asymmetric stretching vibrational mode) and 14.99 μm (667 cm−1) (bending vibrational mode). CO2 plays a significant role in influencing Earth's surface temperature through the greenhouse effect.[7] Light emission from the Earth's surface is most intense in the infrared region between 200 and 2500 cm−1,[8] as opposed to light emission from the much hotter Sun which is most intense in the visible region. Absorption of infrared light at the vibrational frequencies of atmospheric CO2 traps energy near the surface, warming the surface of Earth and its lower atmosphere. Less energy reaches the upper atmosphere, which is therefore cooler because of this absorption.[9]

The present atmospheric concentration of CO2 is the highest for 14 million years.[10] Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere were as high as 4,000 ppm during the Cambrian period about 500 million years ago, and as low as 180 ppm during the Quaternary glaciation of the last two million years.[2] Reconstructed temperature records for the last 420 million years indicate that atmospheric CO2 concentrations peaked at approximately 2,000 ppm. This peak happened during the Devonian period (400 million years ago). Another peak occurred in the Triassic period (220–200 million years ago).[11]

[edit]
Between 1850 and 2019 the Global Carbon Project estimates that about 2/3rds of excess carbon dioxide emissions have been caused by burning fossil fuels, and a little less than half of that has stayed in the atmosphere.

Current situation

[edit]

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO2 concentration have been increasing, causing global warming and ocean acidification.[12] In October 2023 the average level of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere, adjusted for seasonal variation, was 422.17 parts per million by volume (ppm).[13] Figures are published monthly by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).[14][15] The value had been about 280 ppm during the 10,000 years up to the mid-18th century.[2][3][4]

Each part per million of CO2 in the atmosphere represents approximately 2.13 gigatonnes of carbon, or 7.82 gigatonnes of CO2.[16]

It was pointed out in 2021 that "the current rates of increase of the concentration of the major greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) are unprecedented over at least the last 800,000 years".[17]: 515 

It has been estimated that 2,400 gigatons of CO₂ have been emitted by human activity since 1850, with some absorbed by oceans and land, and about 950 gigatons remaining in the atmosphere. Around 2020 the emission rate was over 40 gigatons per year.[18]

Some fraction (a projected 20–35%) of the fossil carbon transferred thus far will persist in the atmosphere as elevated CO2 levels for many thousands of years after these carbon transfer activities begin to subside.[19][20]

Annual and regional fluctuations

[edit]

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations fluctuate slightly with the seasons, falling during the Northern Hemisphere spring and summer as plants consume the gas and rising during northern autumn and winter as plants go dormant or die and decay. The level drops by about 6 or 7 ppm (about 50 Gt) from May to September during the Northern Hemisphere's growing season, and then goes up by about 8 or 9 ppm. The Northern Hemisphere dominates the annual cycle of CO2 concentration because it has much greater land area and plant biomass in mid-latitudes (30-60 degrees) than the Southern Hemisphere. Concentrations reach a peak in May as the Northern Hemisphere spring greenup begins, and decline to a minimum in October, near the end of the growing season.[21][22]

Concentrations also vary on a regional basis, most strongly near the ground with much smaller variations aloft. In urban areas concentrations are generally higher[23] and indoors they can reach 10 times background levels.

Measurements and predictions made in the recent past

[edit]
  • Data from 2009 found that the global mean CO2 concentration was rising at a rate of approximately 2 ppm/year and accelerating.[24][25]
  • The daily average concentration of atmospheric CO2 at Mauna Loa Observatory first exceeded 400 ppm on 10 May 2013[26][27] although this concentration had already been reached in the Arctic in June 2012.[28] Data from 2013 showed that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is this high "for the first time in 55 years of measurement—and probably more than 3 million years of Earth history."[29]
  • As of 2018, CO2 concentrations were measured to be 410 ppm.[24][30]

Measurement techniques

[edit]
Carbon dioxide observations from 2008 to 2017 showing the seasonal variations and the difference between northern and southern hemispheres

The concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are expressed as parts per million by volume (abbreviated as ppmv, or ppm(v), or just ppm). To convert from the usual ppmv units to ppm mass (abbreviated as ppmm, or ppm(m)), multiply by the ratio of the molar mass of CO2 to that of air, i.e. times 1.52 (44.01 divided by 28.96).

The first reproducibly accurate measurements of atmospheric CO2 were from flask sample measurements made by Dave Keeling at Caltech in the 1950s.[31] Measurements at Mauna Loa have been ongoing since 1958. Additionally, measurements are also made at many other sites around the world. Many measurement sites are part of larger global networks. Global network data are often made publicly available.

Data networks

[edit]

There are several surface measurement (including flasks and continuous in situ) networks including NOAA/ERSL,[32] WDCGG,[33] and RAMCES.[34] The NOAA/ESRL Baseline Observatory Network, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Network[35] data are hosted at the CDIAC at ORNL. The World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), part of GAW, data are hosted by the JMA. The Reseau Atmospherique de Mesure des Composes an Effet de Serre database (RAMCES) is part of IPSL.

From these measurements, further products are made which integrate data from the various sources. These products also address issues such as data discontinuity and sparseness. GLOBALVIEW-CO2 is one of these products.[36]

Analytical methods to investigate sources of CO2

[edit]
  • The burning of long-buried fossil fuels releases CO2 containing carbon of different isotopic ratios to those of living plants, enabling distinction between natural and human-caused contributions to CO2 concentration.[37]
  • There are higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the world's population lives (and emissions originate from), compared to the southern hemisphere. This difference has increased as anthropogenic emissions have increased.[38]
  • Atmospheric O2 levels are decreasing in Earth's atmosphere as it reacts with the carbon in fossil fuels to form CO2.[39]

Causes of the current increase

[edit]

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions

[edit]
The US, China and Russia have cumulatively contributed the greatest amounts of CO2 since 1850.[40]

While CO2 absorption and release is always happening as a result of natural processes, the recent rise in CO2 levels in the atmosphere is known to be mainly due to human (anthropogenic) activity.[17] Anthropogenic carbon emissions exceed the amount that can be taken up or balanced out by natural sinks.[41] Thus carbon dioxide has gradually accumulated in the atmosphere and, as of May 2022, its concentration is 50% above pre-industrial levels.[3]

The extraction and burning of fossil fuels, releasing carbon that has been underground for many millions of years, has increased the atmospheric concentration of CO2.[4][12] As of year 2019 the extraction and burning of geologic fossil carbon by humans releases over 30 gigatonnes of CO2 (9 billion tonnes carbon) each year.[42] This larger disruption to the natural balance is responsible for recent growth in the atmospheric CO2 concentration.[30][43] Currently about half of the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels is not absorbed by vegetation and the oceans and remains in the atmosphere.[44]

Burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas is the leading cause of increased anthropogenic CO2; deforestation is the second major cause. In 2010, 9.14 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC, equivalent to 33.5 gigatonnes of CO2 or about 4.3 ppm in Earth's atmosphere) were released from fossil fuels and cement production worldwide, compared to 6.15 GtC in 1990.[45] In addition, land use change contributed 0.87 GtC in 2010, compared to 1.45 GtC in 1990.[45] In the period 1751 to 1900, about 12 GtC were released as CO2 to the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels, whereas from 1901 to 2013 the figure was about 380 GtC.[46]

The International Energy Agency estimates that the top 1% of emitters globally each had carbon footprints of over 50 tonnes of CO2 in 2021, more than 1,000 times greater than those of the bottom 1% of emitters. The global average energy-related carbon footprint is around 4.7 tonnes of CO2 per person.[47]

Roles in natural processes on Earth

[edit]

Greenhouse effect

[edit]
Greenhouse gases allow sunlight to pass through the atmosphere, heating the planet, but then absorb and redirect the infrared radiation (heat) the planet emits
CO2 reduces the flux of thermal radiation emitted to space (causing the large dip near 667 cm−1), thereby contributing to the greenhouse effect.
Longwave-infrared absorption coefficients of water vapor and carbon dioxide. For wavelengths near 15-microns, CO2 is a much stronger absorber than water vapor.

On Earth, carbon dioxide is the most relevant, direct greenhouse gas that is influenced by human activities. Water is responsible for most (about 36–70%) of the total greenhouse effect, and the role of water vapor as a greenhouse gas depends on temperature. Carbon dioxide is often mentioned in the context of its increased influence as a greenhouse gas since the pre-industrial (1750) era. In 2013, the increase in CO2 was estimated to be responsible for 1.82 W m−2 of the 2.63 W m−2 change in radiative forcing on Earth (about 70%).[48]

Earth's natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it possible, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere plays a significant role in providing for the relatively high temperature on Earth. The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary atmosphere warms the planet's surface beyond the temperature it would have in the absence of its atmosphere.[49][50][51]

The concept of more atmospheric CO2 increasing ground temperature was first published by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.[52] The increased radiative forcing due to increased CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere is based on the physical properties of CO2 and the non-saturated absorption windows where CO2 absorbs outgoing long-wave energy. The increased forcing drives further changes in Earth's energy balance and, over the longer term, in Earth's climate.[17]

Carbon cycle

[edit]
This diagram of the carbon cycle shows the movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans in billions of metric tons of carbon per year. Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, red are human contributions, white are stored carbon.[53]

Atmospheric carbon dioxide plays an integral role in the Earth's carbon cycle whereby CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by some natural processes such as photosynthesis and deposition of carbonates, to form limestones for example, and added back to the atmosphere by other natural processes such as respiration and the acid dissolution of carbonate deposits. There are two broad carbon cycles on Earth: the fast carbon cycle and the slow carbon cycle. The fast carbon cycle refers to movements of carbon between the environment and living things in the biosphere whereas the slow carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, soil, rocks, and volcanism. Both cycles are intrinsically interconnected and atmospheric CO2 facilitates the linkage.

Natural sources of atmospheric CO2 include volcanic outgassing, the combustion of organic matter, wildfires and the respiration processes of living aerobic organisms. Man-made sources of CO2 include the burning of fossil fuels, as well as some industrial processes such as cement making.

Annual CO2 flows from anthropogenic sources (left) into Earth's atmosphere, land, and ocean sinks (right) since year 1960. Units in equivalent gigatonnes carbon per year.[42]

Natural sources of CO2 are more or less balanced by natural carbon sinks, in the form of chemical and biological processes which remove CO2 from the atmosphere. For example, the decay of organic material in forests, grasslands, and other land vegetation - including forest fires - results in the release of about 436 gigatonnes of CO2 (containing 119 gigatonnes carbon) every year, while CO2 uptake by new growth on land counteracts these releases, absorbing 451 Gt (123 Gt C).[54] Although much CO2 in the early atmosphere of the young Earth was produced by volcanic activity, modern volcanic activity releases only 130 to 230 megatonnes of CO2 each year.[55]

From the human pre-industrial era to 1940, the terrestrial biosphere represented a net source of atmospheric CO2 (driven largely by land-use changes), but subsequently switched to a net sink with growing fossil carbon emissions.[56]

Oceanic carbon cycle

[edit]
Air-sea exchange of CO2

The Earth's oceans contain a large amount of CO2 in the form of bicarbonate and carbonate ions—much more than the amount in the atmosphere. The bicarbonate is produced in reactions between rock, water, and carbon dioxide.

From 1850 until 2022, the ocean has absorbed 26% of total anthropogenic emissions.[12] However, the rate at which the ocean will take it up in the future is less certain. Even if equilibrium is reached, including dissolution of carbonate minerals, the increased concentration of bicarbonate and decreased or unchanged concentration of carbonate ion will give rise to a higher concentration of un-ionized carbonic acid and dissolved CO2. This higher concentration in the seas, along with higher temperatures, would mean a higher equilibrium concentration of CO2 in the air.[57][58]

Effects of current increase

[edit]

Direct effects

[edit]
Physical drivers of global warming that has happened so far. Future global warming potential for long lived drivers like carbon dioxide emissions is not represented. Whiskers on each bar show the possible error range.

Direct effects of increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere include increasing global temperatures, ocean acidification and a CO2 fertilization effect on plants and crops.[59]

Temperature rise on land

[edit]

Changes in global temperatures over the past century provide evidence for the effects of increasing greenhouse gases. When the climate system reacts to such changes, climate change follows. Measurement of the GST is one of the many lines of evidence supporting the scientific consensus on climate change, which is that humans are causing warming of Earth's climate system.

The global average and combined land and ocean surface temperature, show a warming of 1.09 °C (range: 0.95 to 1.20 °C) from 1850–1900 to 2011–2020, based on multiple independently produced datasets.[60]: 5  The trend is faster since the 1970s than in any other 50-year period over at least the last 2000 years.[60]: 8 

Temperature rise in oceans

[edit]

It is clear that the ocean is warming as a result of climate change, and this rate of warming is increasing.[61]: 9  The global ocean was the warmest it had ever been recorded by humans in 2022.[62] This is determined by the ocean heat content, which exceeded the previous 2021 maximum in 2022.[62] The steady rise in ocean temperatures is an unavoidable result of the Earth's energy imbalance, which is primarily caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases.[62] Between pre-industrial times and the 2011–2020 decade, the ocean's surface has heated between 0.68 and 1.01 °C.[63]: 1214 

The majority of ocean heat gain occurs in the Southern Ocean. For example, between the 1950s and the 1980s, the temperature of the Antarctic Southern Ocean rose by 0.17 °C (0.31 °F), nearly twice the rate of the global ocean.[64]

Ocean acidification

[edit]
Ocean acidification means that the average seawater pH value is dropping over time.[65]

Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's ocean. Between 1950 and 2020, the average pH of the ocean surface fell from approximately 8.15 to 8.05.[66] Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the primary cause of ocean acidification, with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels exceeding 422 ppm (as of 2024).[67] CO2 from the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans. This chemical reaction produces carbonic acid (H2CO3) which dissociates into a bicarbonate ion (HCO3) and a hydrogen ion (H+). The presence of free hydrogen ions (H+) lowers the pH of the ocean, increasing acidity (this does not mean that seawater is acidic yet; it is still alkaline, with a pH higher than 8). Marine calcifying organisms, such as mollusks and corals, are especially vulnerable because they rely on calcium carbonate to build shells and skeletons.[68]

A change in pH by 0.1 represents a 26% increase in hydrogen ion concentration in the world's oceans (the pH scale is logarithmic, so a change of one in pH units is equivalent to a tenfold change in hydrogen ion concentration). Sea-surface pH and carbonate saturation states vary depending on ocean depth and location. Colder and higher latitude waters are capable of absorbing more CO2. This can cause acidity to rise, lowering the pH and carbonate saturation levels in these areas. There are several other factors that influence the atmosphere-ocean CO2 exchange, and thus local ocean acidification. These include ocean currents and upwelling zones, proximity to large continental rivers, sea ice coverage, and atmospheric exchange with nitrogen and sulfur from fossil fuel burning and agriculture.[69][70][71]

CO2 fertilization effect

[edit]

The CO2 fertilization effect or carbon fertilization effect causes an increased rate of photosynthesis while limiting leaf transpiration in plants. Both processes result from increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).[72][73] The carbon fertilization effect varies depending on plant species, air and soil temperature, and availability of water and nutrients.[74][75] Net primary productivity (NPP) might positively respond to the carbon fertilization effect.[76] Although, evidence shows that enhanced rates of photosynthesis in plants due to CO2 fertilization do not directly enhance all plant growth, and thus carbon storage.[74] The carbon fertilization effect has been reported to be the cause of 44% of gross primary productivity (GPP) increase since the 2000s.[77] Earth System Models, Land System Models and Dynamic Global Vegetation Models are used to investigate and interpret vegetation trends related to increasing levels of atmospheric CO2.[74][78] However, the ecosystem processes associated with the CO2 fertilization effect remain uncertain and therefore are challenging to model.[79][80]

Terrestrial ecosystems have reduced atmospheric CO2 concentrations and have partially mitigated climate change effects.[81] The response by plants to the carbon fertilization effect is unlikely to significantly reduce atmospheric CO2 concentration over the next century due to the increasing anthropogenic influences on atmospheric CO2.[73][74][82][83] Earth's vegetated lands have shown significant greening since the early 1980s[84] largely due to rising levels of atmospheric CO2.[85][86][87][88]

Theory predicts the tropics to have the largest uptake due to the carbon fertilization effect, but this has not been observed. The amount of CO2 uptake from CO2 fertilization also depends on how forests respond to climate change, and if they are protected from deforestation.[89]

Other direct effects

[edit]

CO2 emissions have also led to the stratosphere contracting by 400 meters since 1980, which could affect satellite operations, GPS systems and radio communications.[90]

Indirect effects and impacts

[edit]
Thick orange-brown smoke blocks half a blue sky, with conifers in the foreground
A few grey fish swim over grey coral with white spikes
Desert sand half covers a village of small flat-roofed houses with scattered green trees
large areas of still water behind riverside buildings
Some climate change effects, clockwise from top left: Wildfire caused by heat and dryness, bleached coral caused by ocean acidification and heating, coastal flooding caused by storms and sea level rise, and environmental migration caused by desertification
Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather. As the climate changes it impacts the natural environment with effects such as more intense forest fires, thawing permafrost, and desertification. These changes impact ecosystems and societies, and can become irreversible once tipping points are crossed. Climate activists are engaged in a range of activities around the world that seek to ameliorate these issues or prevent them from happening.[91]
Overview of climatic changes and their effects on the ocean. Regional effects are displayed in italics.[92]
There are many effects of climate change on oceans. One of the most important is an increase in ocean temperatures. More frequent marine heatwaves are linked to this. The rising temperature contributes to a rise in sea levels due to the expansion of water as it warms and the melting of ice sheets on land. Other effects on oceans include sea ice decline, reducing pH values and oxygen levels, as well as increased ocean stratification. All this can lead to changes of ocean currents, for example a weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC).[61] The main cause of these changes are the emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, mainly burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Carbon dioxide and methane are examples of greenhouse gases. The additional greenhouse effect leads to ocean warming because the ocean takes up most of the additional heat in the climate system.[93] The ocean also absorbs some of the extra carbon dioxide that is in the atmosphere. This causes the pH value of the seawater to drop.[94] Scientists estimate that the ocean absorbs about 25% of all human-caused CO2 emissions.[94]

Approaches for reducing CO2 concentrations

[edit]
A model of the behavior of carbon in the atmosphere from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015. The height of Earth's atmosphere and topography have been vertically exaggerated and appear approximately 40 times higher than normal to show the complexity of the atmospheric flow.

Carbon dioxide has unique long-term effects on climate change that are nearly "irreversible" for a thousand years after emissions stop (zero further emissions). The greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide do not persist over time in the same way as carbon dioxide. Even if human carbon dioxide emissions were to completely cease, atmospheric temperatures are not expected to decrease significantly in the short term. This is because the air temperature is determined by a balance between heating, due to greenhouse gases, and cooling due to heat transfer to the ocean. If emissions were to stop, CO2 levels and the heating effect would slowly decrease, but simultaneously the cooling due to heat transfer would diminish (because sea temperatures would get closer to the air temperature), with the result that the air temperature would decrease only slowly. Sea temperatures would continue to rise, causing thermal expansion and some sea level rise.[57] Lowering global temperatures more rapidly would require carbon sequestration or geoengineering.

Various techniques have been proposed for removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a process in which carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities and durably stored in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products.[95]: 2221  This process is also known as carbon removal, greenhouse gas removal or negative emissions. CDR is more and more often integrated into climate policy, as an element of climate change mitigation strategies.[96][97] Achieving net zero emissions will require first and foremost deep and sustained cuts in emissions, and then—in addition—the use of CDR ("CDR is what puts the net into net zero emissions"[98]). In the future, CDR may be able to counterbalance emissions that are technically difficult to eliminate, such as some agricultural and industrial emissions.[99]: 114 

Concentrations in the geologic past

[edit]
CO2 concentrations over the last 500 Million years
Concentration of atmospheric CO2 over the last 40,000 years, from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present day. The current rate of increase is much higher than at any point during the last deglaciation.

Estimates in 2023 found that the current carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere may be the highest it has been in the last 14 million years.[10] However the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report estimated similar levels 3 to 3.3 million years ago in the mid-Pliocene warm period. This period can be a proxy for likely climate outcomes with current levels of CO2.[100]: Figure 2.34 

Carbon dioxide is believed to have played an important effect in regulating Earth's temperature throughout its 4.54 billion year history. Early in the Earth's life, scientists have found evidence of liquid water indicating a warm world even though the Sun's output is believed to have only been 70% of what it is today. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations in the early Earth's atmosphere might help explain this faint young sun paradox. When Earth first formed, Earth's atmosphere may have contained more greenhouse gases and CO2 concentrations may have been higher, with estimated partial pressure as large as 1,000 kPa (10 bar), because there was no bacterial photosynthesis to reduce the gas to carbon compounds and oxygen. Methane, a very active greenhouse gas, may have been more prevalent as well.[101][102]

Carbon dioxide concentrations have shown several cycles of variation from about 180 parts per million during the deep glaciations of the Holocene and Pleistocene to 280 parts per million during the interglacial periods. Carbon dioxide concentrations have varied widely over the Earth's history. It is believed to have been present in Earth's first atmosphere, shortly after Earth's formation. The second atmosphere, consisting largely of nitrogen and CO
2
was produced by outgassing from volcanism, supplemented by gases produced during the late heavy bombardment of Earth by huge asteroids.[103] A major part of carbon dioxide emissions were soon dissolved in water and incorporated in carbonate sediments.

The production of free oxygen by cyanobacterial photosynthesis eventually led to the oxygen catastrophe that ended Earth's second atmosphere and brought about the Earth's third atmosphere (the modern atmosphere) 2.4 billion years ago. Carbon dioxide concentrations dropped from 4,000 parts per million during the Cambrian period about 500 million years ago to as low as 180 parts per million 20,000 years ago .[2]

Drivers of ancient-Earth CO2 concentration

[edit]

On long timescales, atmospheric CO2 concentration is determined by the balance among geochemical processes including organic carbon burial in sediments, silicate rock weathering, and volcanic degassing. The net effect of slight imbalances in the carbon cycle over tens to hundreds of millions of years has been to reduce atmospheric CO2. On a timescale of billions of years, such downward trend appears bound to continue indefinitely as occasional massive historical releases of buried carbon due to volcanism will become less frequent (as earth mantle cooling and progressive exhaustion of internal radioactive heat proceed further). The rates of these processes are extremely slow; hence they are of no relevance to the atmospheric CO2 concentration over the next hundreds or thousands of years.

Photosynthesis in the geologic past

[edit]

Over the course of Earth's geologic history CO2 concentrations have played a role in biological evolution. The first photosynthetic organisms probably evolved early in the evolutionary history of life and most likely used reducing agents such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide as sources of electrons, rather than water.[104] Cyanobacteria appeared later, and the excess oxygen they produced contributed to the oxygen catastrophe,[105] which rendered the evolution of complex life possible. In recent geologic times, low CO2 concentrations below 600 parts per million might have been the stimulus that favored the evolution of C4 plants which increased greatly in abundance between 7 and 5 million years ago over plants that use the less efficient C3 metabolic pathway.[106] At current atmospheric pressures photosynthesis shuts down when atmospheric CO2 concentrations fall below 150 ppm and 200 ppm although some microbes can extract carbon from the air at much lower concentrations.[107][108]

Measuring ancient-Earth CO2 concentration

[edit]
Over 400,000 years of ice core data: Graph of CO2 (green), reconstructed temperature (blue) and dust (red) from the Vostok ice core
Correspondence between temperature and atmospheric CO2 during the last 800,000 years

The most direct method for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for periods before instrumental sampling is to measure bubbles of air (fluid or gas inclusions) trapped in the Antarctic or Greenland ice sheets. The most widely accepted of such studies come from a variety of Antarctic cores and indicate that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were about 260–280 ppm immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding 10,000 years.[109][110] The longest ice core record comes from East Antarctica, where ice has been sampled to an age of 800,000 years.[111] 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.[112][113]

CO2 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. One study using evidence from stomata of fossilized leaves suggests greater variability, with CO2 mole fractions above 300 ppm during the period ten to seven thousand years ago,[114] though others have argued that these findings more likely reflect calibration or contamination problems rather than actual CO2 variability.[115][116] Because of the way air is trapped in ice (pores in the ice close off slowly to form bubbles deep within the firn) and the time period represented in each ice sample analyzed, these figures represent averages of atmospheric concentrations of up to a few centuries rather than annual or decadal levels.

Ice cores provide evidence for greenhouse gas concentration variations over the past 800,000 years. Both CO2 and CH
4
concentrations vary between glacial and interglacial phases, and these variations correlate strongly with temperature. Direct data does not exist for periods earlier than those represented in the ice core record, a record that indicates that CO2 mole fractions stayed within a range of 180 ppm to 280 ppm throughout the last 800,000 years, until the increase of the last 250 years. However, various proxy measurements and models suggest larger variations in past epochs: 500 million years ago CO2 levels were likely 10 times higher than now.[117]

Various proxy measurements have been used to try to determine atmospheric CO2 concentrations millions of years in the past. These include boron and carbon isotope ratios in certain types of marine sediments, and the numbers of stomata observed on fossil plant leaves.[106]

Phytane is a type of diterpenoid alkane. It is a breakdown product of chlorophyll, and is now used to estimate ancient CO2 levels.[118] Phytane gives both a continuous record of CO2 concentrations but it also can overlap a break in the CO2 record of over 500 million years.[118]

600 to 400 million years ago

[edit]

There is evidence for high CO2 concentrations of over 6,000 ppm between 600 and 400 million years ago, and of over 3,000 ppm between 200 and 150 million years ago.[119][failed verification]

Indeed, higher CO2 concentrations are thought to have prevailed throughout most of the Phanerozoic Eon, with concentrations four to six times current concentrations during the Mesozoic era, and ten to fifteen times current concentrations during the early Palaeozoic era until the middle of the Devonian period, about 400 million years ago.[120][121][122] The spread of land plants is thought to have reduced CO2 concentrations during the late Devonian, and plant activities as both sources and sinks of CO2 have since been important in providing stabilizing feedbacks.[123]

Earlier still, a 200-million year period of intermittent, widespread glaciation extending close to the equator (Snowball Earth) appears to have been ended suddenly, about 550 Ma, by a colossal volcanic outgassing that raised the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere abruptly to 12%, about 350 times modern levels, causing extreme greenhouse conditions and carbonate deposition as limestone at the rate of about 1 mm per day.[124] This episode marked the close of the Precambrian Eon, and was succeeded by the generally warmer conditions of the Phanerozoic, during which multicellular animal and plant life evolved. No volcanic CO2 emission of comparable scale has occurred since. In the modern era, emissions to the atmosphere from volcanoes are approximately 0.645 billion tons of CO2 per year, whereas humans contribute 29 billion tons of CO2 each year.[125][124][126][127]

60 to 5 million years ago

[edit]

Atmospheric CO2 concentration continued to fall after about 60 million years ago. About 34 million years ago, the time of the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event and when the Antarctic ice sheet started to take its current form, CO2 was about 760 ppm,[128] and there is geochemical evidence that concentrations were less than 300 ppm by about 20 million years ago. Decreasing CO2 concentration, with a tipping point of 600 ppm, was the primary agent forcing Antarctic glaciation.[129] Low CO2 concentrations may have been the stimulus that favored the evolution of C4 plants, which increased greatly in abundance between 7 and 5 million years ago.[106]

See also

[edit]

References

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