CO2 content in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere reaches its highest concentration
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California in San Diego reported USA Today that the carbon dioxide content in the Earth's atmosphere has reached its highest level in the last 800,000 years. Now it is 410 ppm (parts per million). This means that in every cubic meter of air carbon dioxide occupies a volume of 410 ml.
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Carbon dioxide, or carbon dioxide, performs an important function in the atmosphere of our planet: it passes part of the radiation from the Sun, which heats the Earth. However, because the gas also absorbs the heat emitted by the planet, it contributes to the greenhouse effect. This is considered the main factor of global warming.
The constant increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere began with the industrial revolution. Prior to that, the concentration had never exceeded 300 ppm. In April of this year, the highest average mark for the last 800 thousand years was set. The first time a figure of 410 ppm was recorded at an air quality monitoring station in Hawaii in April 2017, but then it was rather out of the ordinary. In April 2018, this mark became the average for the entire month. Carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by 30% since the Scripps Institution researchers began observing.
Why does the concentration rise?
Scientist Ralph Keeling of the Scripps Institution, head of the CO2 research program, believes that the concentration of carbon dioxide continues to rise in the atmosphere due to the fact that we are constantly burning fuel. The processing of oil, gas and coal releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. The gases have caused the Earth's temperature to rise over the past century to levels that cannot be explained by natural variability. It's been a long time known fact, but no one is taking action to somehow remedy the situation.
In turn, the World Meteorological Organization said that the increase in greenhouse gases contributes to climate change and makes "the planet more dangerous and inhospitable for future generations." The issue needs to be addressed at the global level, and done as soon as possible.
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Very large. Carbon dioxide takes part in the formation of all living matter on the planet and, together with water and methane molecules, creates the so-called "greenhouse (greenhouse) effect."
Carbon dioxide value ( CO 2 , dioxide or carbon dioxide) in the life of the biosphere consists primarily in maintaining the process of photosynthesis, which is carried out by plants.
Being greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide in the air affects the heat exchange of the planet with the surrounding space, effectively blocking the reradiated heat at a number of frequencies, and thus participates in the formation.
Recently, there has been an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which leads to.
Carbon (C) in the atmosphere is found mainly in the form of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and in a small amount in the form of methane (CH 4), carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons.
For atmospheric gases, the concept of "gas lifetime" is used. This is the time during which the gas is completely renewed, i.e. the time it takes for as much gas to enter the atmosphere as it contains. So, for carbon dioxide this time is 3-5 years, for methane - 10-14 years. CO oxidizes to CO 2 within a few months.
In the biosphere, the importance of carbon is very high, since it is part of all living organisms. Within living beings, carbon is contained in a reduced form, and outside the biosphere - in an oxidized form. Thus, the chemical exchange of the life cycle is formed: CO 2 ↔ living matter.
Sources of carbon in the atmosphere.
The source of primary carbon dioxide is, during the eruption of which a huge amount of gases is released into the atmosphere. Some of this carbon dioxide comes from thermal decomposition ancient limestones in various zones of metamorphism.
Carbon also enters the atmosphere in the form of methane as a result of anaerobic decomposition of organic residues. Methane under the influence of oxygen is quickly oxidized to carbon dioxide. The main suppliers of methane to the atmosphere are tropical forests and.
In turn, atmospheric carbon dioxide is a source of carbon for other geospheres -, the biosphere and.
Migration of CO 2 in the biosphere.
Migration of CO 2 proceeds in two ways:
In the first method, CO 2 is absorbed from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and participates in the formation organic matter with subsequent burial in the form of minerals: peat, oil, oil shale.
In the second method, carbon is involved in the creation of carbonates in the hydrosphere. CO 2 goes into H 2 CO 3, HCO 3 -1, CO 3 -2. Then, with the participation of calcium (less often magnesium and iron), the precipitation of carbonates occurs in a biogenic and abiogenic way. Thick strata of limestones and dolomites appear. According to A.B. Ronov, the ratio of organic carbon (Corg) to carbonate carbon (Ccarb) in the history of the biosphere was 1:4.
How is the geochemical cycle of carbon carried out in nature and how carbon dioxide is returned back to the atmosphere
Carbon dioxide (CO2).
Carbon dioxide is perhaps the most important of all the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by humans, firstly because it causes a strong greenhouse effect and, secondly, because so much of this gas is produced by humans.
Carbon dioxide is a very "natural" component of the atmosphere - so natural that we have only recently begun to think about anthropogenic carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide can be a useful thing. However, the key question is at what point does CO2 become too much? Or, in other words, in what quantities does it begin to have a harmful effect on the environment?
What seems natural from the point of view of man today may differ significantly from what was natural for the Earth in the process of its evolutionary development. The history of mankind is only a very thin slice (no more than a few million years) on a geological layer of more than 4.6 billion years.
Some environmentalists fear that carbon dioxide will lead to catastrophic changes in the climate, such as those described in Bill McKibben's book Nature's End.
Most likely, carbon dioxide dominated the Earth's early atmosphere. Atmospheric CO2 is only about 0.03 percent today, and the most pessimistic predictions are for it to rise to 0.09 percent by 2100. Approximately 4.5 billion years ago, some scientists believe that CO2 made up 80 percent of the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, slowly dropping initially to 30-20 percent over the next 2.5 billion years. Free oxygen was practically not found in the early atmosphere and was poisonous to anaerobic forms life that existed at that time.
The existence of man, as we know today, in conditions of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, was simply impossible. Fortunately for people and animals, most of CO2 was removed from the atmosphere late in Earth's history when sea dwellers, early forms of algae, developed the ability to photosynthesize. During photosynthesis, plants use the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen. In the end, algae and other, more advanced life forms that appeared in the process of evolution (plankton, plants and trees) died, fixing most of the carbon in various carbon minerals (oil shale, coal and oil) in earth's crust. What's left in the atmosphere is the oxygen we breathe now.
Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere from various sources - most of which are natural. But the amount of CO2 usually stays at about the same level, because there are mechanisms that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Figure 5 gives a simplified diagram of the circulation of CO2 in the atmosphere).
One of the main natural mechanisms of CO2 circulation is the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and the surface of the oceans. This exchange is a very delicate, well-balanced process with feedback. The amount of carbon dioxide involved in it is truly enormous. Scientists measure these quantities in giga tons (Ggt - billions of metric tons) of carbon for convenience.
Carbon dioxide readily dissolves in water (the process that produces carbonated water). It is also easily released from the water (in carbonated water, we see this as a fizz). Atmospheric carbon dioxide is continuously dissolved in water at the surface of the oceans and released back into the atmosphere. This phenomenon is almost entirely explained by physical and chemical processes. The surface of the world's oceans annually releases 90 Ggt of carbon, and absorbs 92 Ggt of carbon. When scientists compare these two processes, it turns out that the surface of the world's oceans, in fact, is a carbon dioxide sink, that is, it absorbs more CO2 than it releases back into the atmosphere.
The magnitude of carbon dioxide fluxes in the atmosphere/ocean cycle remains the most important factor because small changes in the existing balance can have unpredictable effects on other natural processes.
Biological processes play an equally important role in the circulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. CO2 is essential for photosynthesis. Plants "breathe" carbon dioxide, absorbing about 102 Ggt of carbon annually. However, plants, animals and other organisms also emit CO2. One of the reasons for the formation of carbon dioxide is explained by the metabolic process - respiration. When breathing, living organisms burn the oxygen they breathe. Humans and other land animals, for example, inhale oxygen to sustain life and exhale carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere as waste. According to calculations, all living organisms on Earth annually exhale about 50 Ggt of carbon.
When plants and animals die organic compounds carbon contained in them are included in the composition of the soil or silt in swamps. Nature composts these products of withered life like a gardener, breaking them down into their constituent parts through various chemical transformations and the work of microorganisms. According to scientists, during the decay, about 50 Ggt of carbon gets back into the atmosphere.
Thus, 102 Ggt of carbon taken from the atmosphere annually is almost 100% balanced by the 102 Gg tons of carbon that enters the atmosphere annually during the respiration and decay of animals and plants. It is necessary to be fully aware of the magnitude of carbon fluxes in nature, since slight deviations in the existing balance can have far-reaching consequences.
Compared to the atmosphere-ocean cycle and the biological cycle, the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities, at first glance, seems negligible. When burning coal, oil and natural gas, a person releases approximately 5.7 Ggt of carbon into the atmosphere (according to IPCC). When cutting down and burning forests, people add another 2 Gg tons. It should be noted that there are different estimates of the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result of deforestation.
These quantities undoubtedly play a role because the natural carbon cycles (atmosphere/ocean and biological cycle) have long been in a well-adjusted equilibrium. At least, the balance was maintained in the time period in which the origin and development of mankind took place. Human industrial and agricultural activities seem to have significantly skewed the carbon balance.
Various Scientific research showed an increase in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere over the past few centuries. During this time, the world's population grew by geometric progression, the steam engine began to be used in industry, automobiles with internal combustion engines spread throughout the planet, and migrant farmers cleared vast territories of America, Australia and Asia from vegetation.
During the same time, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide increased from 280 parts per million (ppmv) pre-industrial (1750) to about 353 ppmv, about 25 percent. This amount could be enough to cause significant changes if the climate is indeed sensitive to greenhouse gases to the extent that scientists suggest. Measurements at the Manua Loa Observatory in Hawaii, far removed from sources of industrial pollution, show a steady increase in CO2 concentrations between 1958 and 1990 (Figure 6). In the past two years, however, no increase in carbon dioxide concentrations has been observed.
The close relationship between carbon dioxide concentrations and estimated average global temperatures is amazing (Figure 7)! However, whether this correlation is random is still a mystery. It is easy to be tempted to attribute fluctuations in temperature to fluctuations in CO2 concentrations. But the relationship can also be reversed - a change in temperature can cause a change in carbon dioxide concentrations.
The vast majority of ventilation experts agree: carbon dioxide is an indicator of the state of the air (authoritative proof from ABOK). A lot of CO2 means a lot and more harmful substances(formaldehydes and other toxic organics, PM2.5, etc.). This is logical: after all, if ventilation cannot cope with air exchange, then CO2 exhaled by us and the rest of the “air cocktail” accumulate in the room. So it is quite reasonable to measure the concentration of CO2 in the air in order to assess the quality of this very air.Is carbon dioxide an air pollutant like car exhaust or industrial emissions? Research on this topic is conflicting. There are many articles about the harm of CO2 (example one, example two). There are fewer studies showing that carbon dioxide is practically harmless, but there are some (example). If you are interested in this topic, write in the comments. In the future, we may do a detailed review of the effects of CO2 on human health.
Our opinion is that carbon dioxide clearly affects a person's well-being (lethargy, fatigue, drowsiness). Remember how you feel in a stuffy office or apartment with closed windows. The average effect of CO2 on a person looks something like this:
How to measure the amount of CO2 in the air?
The level of carbon dioxide in the air is measured in ppm: 1 ppm = 0.0001%, that is, one part per million. For Russia, 1400 ppm of carbon dioxide in the air is already an unacceptable amount (according to GOST 30494-2011). In America, the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers) general standards state: Complaints about headache start at 2000 ppm.On average, the hospital gets the following picture:
- 300 ppm - the norm outdoors in nature
- 500 ppm - the norm on the street in a modern city
- 700-1500 ppm is the norm in the room, and closer to 1500 ppm, complaints of stuffiness, headache, lethargy, etc. are already beginning.
All done with an introduction. We proceed directly to the measurement. Word to Mikhail Amelkin.
Transport
The trip started from the plane. Flight Novosibirsk-Moscow, about 4 hours. The plane is full, Airbus A316. The entire flight, the concentration of CO2 is about 2000 ppm! Add here too high temperature on board (about 28°C) and low pressure (786 hPa versus 1007 hPa on the ground), and you will understand why we are so “sausage” after flights. For comparison, at the airport of arrival, about 700 ppm, that is, the norm. On the way back, I flew in a half-empty plane and the situation was much better - the entire flight was up to 1000 ppm, which is acceptable.
The subway is much better. At the station itself underground 600 ppm. In old, "leaky" cars, about 700 ppm. Here in the new subway cars, where air conditioners drive the air in a circle, it is already worse - with an incomplete load of 1200 ppm. In a full car, more than 2000 ppm should be expected. But here it is worth bearing in mind that we usually spend little time in such cars, 10-20 minutes, so this is not very critical.
The outside
Made a stop right on the Red Square. The level is about 450 ppm. This is higher than outside the city, which is most likely due to the abundance of transport, boiler houses and industry, which actively emit CO2 into the air, creating a “bubble” of carbon dioxide over the city. But it's not scary. Bye.
Home and hotel
I was lucky, and in my room the concentration of CO2 was less than 600 ppm all night. Excellent! I didn't sleep well. This is because I asked for a room with a window to the courtyard and was able to keep the window on micro-ventilation without waking up from the noise of cars. But there is no ventilation in the room, so the fee for fresh air is also not small - Moscow could. There would be a fan with professional filters - it would be a fiver!
I must say that measurements in apartments with closed windows often show very poor results, a couple of people in a room can easily “breathe” 2000 ppm in 40-60 minutes. And the windows are usually closed so that there are no drafts and noise from the street. The conclusion is the same as in the case of the hotel - ventilation is a must have at home. At the same time, it is easier and cheaper to put compact ones than to bother with full ventilation.
Restaurants and cinemas
Here the picture is very different, but one thing is obvious (someone will say that this is clear even without appliances) - our restaurateurs love to save on a fan! For example, I had a business meeting at the Daily Bread coffee shop on Nikolskaya. The place is good, but the trouble with the air is 2000 ppm! In such an atmosphere it is very difficult to think and solve business issues. It was a little better at Chaikhona No. 1 on Pushkinskaya, up to 1500 ppm.
But there are also good places: at Starbucks on Revolution Square and at Five Stars on Paveletskaya 700 ppm and 800 ppm, respectively. But in the cinema hall of this wonderful cinema it was “no ice” - up to 1500 ppm the whole session. At the same time, the administration did not stint on air conditioners - it was cool in the halls and this “brightened up” the situation. But air conditioners do not replace ventilation! Temperature is temperature, and oxygen is oxygen, it must be both.
While this is all the information on Moscow. I undertake to make a survey trip in Novosibirsk. What can be said in summary?
conclusions
According to the data obtained, one can unequivocally state the low quality of air in transport, especially when there are many passengers in it. A couple of tips on what to do on a stuffy plane.- Use airflow, it is in every aircraft on the ceiling or "in the back of the seat in front of you." From there, the air also comes in excess of CO2 (checked), but it at least inflates that “bubble” of carbon dioxide that you “breathed” around you.
- If it's hot in the cabin, undress. Let it be a little cool. The lower the body temperature, the better the blood is saturated with oxygen and carbon dioxide is excreted.
- Keep activity to a minimum. It is better to sleep or "meditate". Try not to be nervous, not to take triple integrals in your mind. Remember, the brain consumes about 20% of all oxygen in the blood!
- If you smoke, it's best not to smoke a few hours before your flight. This will clear the blood of carbon monoxide and improve the supply of oxygen to the brain. Better use nicotine gum / pills / patches.
- After arrival, spend an hour outside, breathe, do breathing exercises, and normalize biochemistry in the blood. Let your brain recover!
This time, it was not possible to "hunt" for CO2 in schools, kindergartens and offices, but there is reason to believe that there are regularly exceeded concentrations of carbon dioxide. A little spoiler: we have already measured CO2 in the classroom of one of the Novosibirsk schools - more than 2000 ppm! And children should study and work with their heads there. And how to demand concentration and academic performance from a child when the head does not cook just physiologically?
Tion note: there will be a material about our mini-study at school soon.
In short, I want to choose places of work and rest based on air quality as well. I believe that this will significantly improve the "average temperature in the ward" - the well-being of me and my family.
In September 2016, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere passed the psychologically significant mark of 400 ppm (parts per million). This makes the plans of developed countries to prevent an increase in temperature on Earth by more than 2 degrees doubtful.
Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system. During the period from 1906 to 2005, the average air temperature near the planet's surface increased by 0.74 degrees, and the rate of temperature increase in the second half of the century is about twice as high as for the period as a whole. For the entire period of observations, 2015 is considered the hottest year, when all temperature indicators exceeded those of 2014, the previous record holder, by 0.13 degrees. AT various parts around the globe, temperatures change in different ways. Since 1979, temperatures over land have risen twice as much as over the ocean. This is explained by the fact that the air temperature over the ocean grows more slowly due to its large heat capacity.
The movement of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Human activities are considered to be the main cause of global warming. Indirect research methods have shown that until 1850, for one or two thousand years, the temperature remained relatively stable, albeit with some regional fluctuations.
Thus, the beginning of climate change almost coincides with the beginning of the industrial revolution in most Western countries. Greenhouse gas emissions are considered to be the main reason today. The fact is that part of the energy that the planet Earth receives from the Sun is re-radiated back into outer space in the form of thermal radiation.
Greenhouse gases hinder this process by absorbing some of the heat and keeping it in the atmosphere.
The addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere leads to even greater heating of the atmosphere and an increase in temperature near the surface of the planet. The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4). As a result of the industrial activity of mankind, the concentration of these gases in the air is growing, which leads to an annual increase in temperature.
Since climate warming threatens literally all of humanity, attempts are made repeatedly in the world to bring this process under control. Until 2012, the Kyoto Protocol was the main global agreement to combat global warming.
It covered more than 160 countries of the world and covered 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. However, after the end of the first stage of the Kyoto Protocol, the participating countries could not agree on further actions. In part, the drafting of the second stage of the treaty was hampered by the fact that many participants avoid using the budget approach to determine their obligations in relation to CO 2 emissions. CO 2 emission budget - the amount of emissions over a certain period of time, which is calculated from the temperature that participants must not exceed.
According to the decisions taken in Durban, no binding climate agreement will be in place until 2020, despite urgent efforts to reduce gas emissions and reduce emissions. Studies show that at present the only way to provide a "reasonable probability" of limiting warming to 2 degrees (characterizing dangerous climate change) will be to limit the economies of developed countries and their transition to an anti-growth strategy.
And in September 2016, according to the Mauna Loa Observatory, another psychological barrier of CO 2 greenhouse gas emissions was overcome - 400 ppm (parts per million). It must be said that this value was repeatedly exceeded before,
but September is traditionally considered the month with the lowest concentration of CO 2 in the Northern Hemisphere.
This is explained by the fact that green vegetation has time to absorb a certain amount of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere during the summer before the leaves fall from the trees and some of the CO 2 returns. Therefore, if the psychologically important threshold of 400 ppm was exceeded in September, then, most likely, monthly indicators will never be lower than this value.
“Is it possible that in October this year the concentration will decrease compared to September? Completely ruled out
Ralph Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego explains on his blog. “Short-term drops in the concentration level are possible, but the monthly average values will now always exceed 400 ppm.”
Keeling also notes that tropical cyclones can reduce CO 2 levels for a short time. Gavin Schmidt, chief climate scientist, agrees: “At best, you can expect some kind of balance, and CO 2 levels will not rise too quickly. But, in my opinion, CO 2 will never fall below 400 ppm again.”
According to the forecast, by 2099 the concentration of CO 2 on Earth will be 900 ppm, which will be about 0.1% of the entire atmosphere of our planet. As a result, the average daily temperature in cities such as Jerusalem, New York, Los Angeles and Mumbai will be close to +45°C. In London, Paris and Moscow, temperatures will exceed +30°C in summer.
