03-07-2019, 05:40 PM
While I'm no scientist, the last two times I saw headlines about high CO2 at Mauna Loa they were during times the trade winds had died down. I'm sure it was just coincidence that the lack of winds and the CO2 censors being only a few miles from one of the largest (if not the largest) continuous CO2 vents in the world contributed to the higher readings.
It's not coincidence, it's because CO2 is highest in the northern hemisphere winter - i.e. the same time of year that the trade winds die down - due to the lower photosynthesis going on around the world, together with more fuel being burned (since there is both a lot more vegetated area and a lot more people who need winter heat in the northern hemisphere than in the southern). The CO2 measurement always goes up in the winter and down in the summer by a few ppm. The difference now is that it never goes back down to where it was the year before.
It's not coincidence, it's because CO2 is highest in the northern hemisphere winter - i.e. the same time of year that the trade winds die down - due to the lower photosynthesis going on around the world, together with more fuel being burned (since there is both a lot more vegetated area and a lot more people who need winter heat in the northern hemisphere than in the southern). The CO2 measurement always goes up in the winter and down in the summer by a few ppm. The difference now is that it never goes back down to where it was the year before.