Greenland Snowpack Measurements Show A Drop In Atmospheric CO Since The 1950s
Tuesday, September 17, 2013 - 13:10
in Earth & Climate
Atmospheric levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in the 1950s were actually slightly higher than what we have today, according to a first-ever study of air trapped in the deep snowpack of Greenland - results that contradict current computer model predictions that there are much higher CO concentrations over Greenland today than in 1950. In a new paper, Vasilii Petrenko, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, concluded that CO levels rose slightly from 1950 until the 1970s, then declined strongly to present-day values. This finding contradicts computer models that had calculated a 40 percent overall increase in CO levels over the same period. read more