Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations

  • Released Thursday, January 2, 2025
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This visualization shows atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements from NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory in coodination with Antarctic Ice Core measurements of carbon dioxide. The Mauna Loa measurements were initiated in 1958 by Charles David Keeling. The plot of these measurements is commonly known as the Keeling Curve. This plot shows seasonal variations over the top of steadily rising CO2 levels. The Antarctic Ice Core CO2 measurements go back more than 800,000 years and are a composite of a number of different ice cores (please see the datasets section below for more details).

A plot of global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from the Mauna Loa Observatory and Antarctic Ice Cores. The visualization starts by showing the Mauna Loa data which begins in 1958. There is a seasonal variation (maximum in May and minimum in September) and a steady year over year rise. The graph transforms from the monthly view to a line plot (The Keeling Curve). Finally the graph zooms out to show the full 800,000 year record from the Antarcic Ice Cores.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM EST.

Datasets used

  • Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (Mauna Loa CO2 monthly mean data)

    ID: 1133
    Type: Observed Data Collected by: NOAA and Scripps

    Credit: Dr. Pieter Tans, NOAA/GML (gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/) and Dr. Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/).

    This dataset can be found at: https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/data.html

    See all pages that use this dataset

  • Antarctic Ice Cores (Antarctic Ice Cores Revised 800KYr CO2 Data)

    ID: 1231
    Type: Data Compilation

    The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome ice core from Dome C (EDC) has allowed for the reconstruction of atmospheric CO2 concentrations for the last 800,000 years. Here we revisit the oldest part of the EDC CO2 record using different air extraction methods and sections of the core. For our established cracker system, we found an analytical artifact, which increases over the deepest 200 m and reaches 10.1 +/- 2.4 ppm in the oldest/deepest part. The governing mechanism is not yet fully understood, but it is related to insufficient gas extraction in combination with ice relaxation during storage and ice structure. The corrected record presented here resolves partly - but not completely - the issue with a different correlation between CO2 and Antarctic temperatures found in this oldest part of the records. In addition, we provide here an update of 800,000 years atmospheric CO2 history including recent studies covering the last glacial cycle.

    Credit: Bereiter, B., S. Eggleston, J. Schmitt, C. Nehrbass-Ahles, T. F. Stocker, H. Fischer, S. Kipfstuhl, J. Chappellaz. 2015. Revision of the EPICA Dome C CO2 record from 800 to 600 kyr before present. Geophysical Research Letters, 42(2), 542-549. doi: 10.1002/2014GL061957

    This dataset can be found at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/paleo-search/study/17975

    See all pages that use this dataset

Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.