Keeling Curve: Challenge of Global Warming and Carbon Dioxide Growth

Keeling Curve
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Charles David Keeling measured carbon dioxide in 1958 based on his observations. Since then monitoring the increased concentration of atmospheric  CO2 at the Mauna Loa Observatory continues and is maintained by the NOAA (Horrigan & Mustart , 2009). The plot of these observations is the Keeling Curve and carbon dioxide is measured as the mole fraction in dry air in the parts per million (ppm) units. Increased concentration of carbon dioxide has been singled out as one of the main causes of climate change though the greenhouse effect .  The Keeling curve is plotted from 1958, which is the International Geophysical Year (IGY). While the world has previously been warmer than today there to five million years ago, since the industrial age the carbon dioxide concentration has increased because of human activities. On the eve of the Industrial Revolution the atmospheric CO2 concentration was approximately 280 ppm. In the annual cyc...