Keeling Curve
2021 JUN 10
Preliminary >
Environment and Ecology > Global warming > Reports and indices
Why in news?
- Despite a massive reduction in commuting and in many commercial activities during the early months of the pandemic, the amount of carbon in Earth's atmosphere in May reached its highest level in modern history as per Keeling curve.
About the curve:
- The Keeling Curve is a graph of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.
- It is based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of Hawaii from 1958 to the present day.
- The curve is named for the scientist Charles David Keeling, who started the monitoring program and supervised it until his death in 2005.
- Keeling's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere.
- Many scientists credit the Keeling curve with first bringing the world's attention to the current increase of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Prelims Question:
” Keeling Curve” is a graph related to:
(a)Amount of Insolation on Earth
(b)Accumulation of Carbon Dioxide
(c)Rate of Glacial melting on Earth
(d)Number of meteorites in atmosphere
Answer to Prelims question