PROOF OF CARBON

New carbon-dioxide tracking is developed
Randolph E. Schmid, March 21, 2007 (AP via Yahoo News)

WHO
Richard Spinrad, head of research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Pieter Tans, chief scientist at NOAA's Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, Colo.

WHAT
CarbonTracker, a new system to track carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The plan is to be able to measure CO2 regionally to help determine where it is being released, where it is being absorbed — such as by trees and crops — and where efforts to reduce release are or are not working.

WHEN
CarbonTracker currently includes data from 2000 to 2005, and 2006 data is being added.

WHERE
CarbonTracker, currently samples the air at 20 places in the United States and 60 worldwide, with a goal of expanding that to "hundreds, maybe thousands" of sampling points. The system now can report on carbon dioxide emissions each month among U.S. regions, such as the West or the Southeast. With more sampling stations researchers hope to be able to analyze local areas…

WHY
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, representing the leading climate scientists, reported in February that global warming has begun, is very likely caused by human activities and will be unstoppable for centuries. Being able to determine where and when carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, increases or decreases should help in projecting future climate change and evaluating efforts to reduce releases.

QUOTES
In addition, Tans said, the researchers are refining their methods so they can determine the amount of an isotope called carbon-14 in the gas. That will enable them to tell the difference between carbon dioxide generated naturally and that produced by burning fossil fuels.