Since 1850, the amount of Carbon Dioxide absorbed by the earths oceans and ecosystems has remained largely unchanged at approximately 50% of the total emissions. Somehow I missed the report about this on CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, MSNBC and NPR.
Whether an over-sized SUV today or the numerous horse and buggies plus coal fired factories of the 19th and 20th centuries, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) remaining airborne rather than being absorbed has altered by only very slight amounts.
According to a study performed by a team at University of Bristol U.K. led by Dr Wolfgang Knorr, the changes in the airborne fraction of CO2 has remained virtually unchanged since 1850 at 0.7 ± 1.4% per decade. That would be an amount without statistical distinction from zero. Oddly enough zero is also the amount of credible evidence the AlGorocon has to support his claim of Global Warming Global Cooling Global Climate Change Global Climate Scamming Global Climate Profiteering
Dr Knorr does not recommend continuing to rely on the planets ability to remain able to absorb the increased amounts of CO2, instead he insinuates a new study should be performed to find out why the airborne fraction of CO2 is essentially the same as it was 159 years ago. Neither might I add, does Dr. Knorr have a job if he isn't 'studying' something or other. (don't take that wrong, he might be a really nice guy for all I know, and he did say the computer models are goofy)
As reported on the
Bristol University website and on
Digital Journal:
"Like all studies of this kind, there are uncertainties in the data, so rather than relying on Nature to provide a free service, soaking up our waste carbon, we need to ascertain why the proportion being absorbed has not changed." Wolfgang Knorr
One primary difference in the study done by Dr Knorr was the use of empirical data collection, including ice samples from Antarctica as historical CO2 markers rather than computer simulated models dreamed up by nerdy computer geeks ina basement which can have highly varying degrees of accuracy depending on the programming of the model parameters. (and the shelf life of the Hostess Twinkies the nerdy geoscience 'puter geeks are fed at irregular intervals)
This author will draw no conclusions except to state that the use of computer generated models appears to be only as good as the data used to program the software, the hardware the software is running on and the electric supply being used to run both of the former.
The use of empirical data would seem to be of much greater usefulness in trying to develop programs and restrictive patterns of energy use which will be in effect for many decades. Hmmmmm...... real data vs. a program running on an Xbox360, lets just think about that one for a bit.
Wonder of wonders is that Dr Knorr found a place to publish his study which flies in the face of the Sacred Cow of AlGorocon.
Dr Knorr's study was published online in Geophysical Research Letters
The paper: Is the airborne fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions increasing? by Wolfgang Knorr.
Geophysical Research Letters, VOL. 36, L21710, doi:10.1029/2009GL040613, 2009.