University of Bristol Press Release

Dec 4, 2009 University of Bristol Press Release 9 November 2009 ...New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb CO2 than had been previously expected. The results run contrary to a significant body of recent research which expects that the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans to absorb CO2 should start to diminish as CO2 emissions increase, letting greenhouse gas levels skyrocket. Dr Wolfgang Knorr at the University of Bristol found that in fact the trend in the airborne fraction since 1850 has only been 0.7 ± 1.4% per decade, which is essentially zero. The strength of the new study, published online in Geophysical Research Letters, is that it rests solely on measurements and statistical data, including historical records extracted from Antarctic ice, and does not rely on computations with complex climate models.... ............ For the statistically-challenged amongst you (Aubrey) this means that whilst anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere has been increasing over time, the PROPORTION of atmospheric CO2 of anthropogenic origin has remained CONSTANT. Ponder that. As a wise man once said “The more we learn, the more we realise we have to learn. Unless, of course, the science is settled.”