There has been no increase in CO2 since 1850

Actually, there has been an increase in the amount of CO2 emitted by human activity – including breathing – since 1850. That fact is not in dispute. But the increase in CO2 emissions does not mean the earth is dealing with higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

AJ over at Strata-Sphere blog wraps up a report from Wolfgang Knorr (science warning) at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. The report is well beyond my science abilities, but that is why we link to the smart folks like AJ and those at What’s Up With That? to interpret the data and reports.

First from What’s Up With That? … with my emphasis added.

New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now.

This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb CO2 than had been previously expected.

The results run contrary to a significant body of recent research which expects that the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans to absorb CO2 should start to diminish as CO2 emissions increase, letting greenhouse gas levels skyrocket. Dr Wolfgang Knorr at the University of Bristol found that in fact the trend in the airborne fraction since 1850 has only been 0.7 ± 1.4% per decade, which is essentially zero.

AJ notes

Oops! Not sure how we all missed that one. What this means is our wonderful blue planet has been able to absorb the increased CO2 production without skipping a beat. Therefore, while we produce more CO2 our portion of CO2 in the air is not increasing.

My biggest challenge to the alarmists data is they cannot prove they can produce a global index to a  0.5°C of a degree accuracy for one day or month, let alone map it back over 100 years with .15°C accuracy (no one could produce that precision in the late 1800’s because they can’t produce that today even for a small region).  With real error bars applied there has been no measurable warming.

This block buster news goes hand in hand with another scientific result that proves the alarmists are nothing more than Chicken Littles running around with unvalidated models which have yet to reflect reality. The green house gas hypothesis claims that CO2 traps heat, which cannot be emitted out into space. The model claims that rising CO2 will result in flat or reduced thermal emission into space as the CO2 acts as a blanket.

However, decades of satellite data show just the opposite.

We know the global warming – rebranded climate change – alarmists like Al Gore can not handle data like this, and quite honestly, neither can I. But one thing is for certain, the science is not settled and alarmists saying so must be looked at critically since they are the ones putting their collective heads in the sand.

Why do they want to ignore peer-reviewed data and reports like this? Maybe it’s just easier to show pictures of “stranded” polar bears on thining ice flows and make the children cry so they can gather more control and take away more of our liberties and freedom.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

1 Comment

  1. Dimsdale on November 17, 2009 at 5:30 am

    Allowing non-scientist to direct the discussion, both from face time or bully pulpits (emphasis on the "bully" part), and their near monopolistic control of the money that goes (or doesn't go) to real scientist is the kind of science you find in Red China or Superman's Bizarro world.

     

    Al Gore got C- and D's in the few science courses he took in college, and he's the AGW proponent's spokesperson?   That speaks volumes.



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