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--- basics:energy_and_ecology:greenhouse_effect_and_climate_protection [2020/08/09 14:24] – [Greenhouse effect and climate protection] wfeist
+++ basics:energy_and_ecology:greenhouse_effect_and_climate_protection [2020/08/09 14:39] – [What are the reasons for the increased CO2 levels? Energy Consumption] wfeist
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 ** Climate change is mainly caused by fossil energy consumption.**\\
 \\
-About 85 % of the worlwide energy consumption today is covered by crude oil, natural gas and coal. These fuels are also known as "fossil energy sources". They consist mainly of the elements carbon and hydrogen; when these fuels are burned, CO<sub>2</sub> and water (H<sub>2</sub>O) are produced.
+About 80 % of the worlwide energy consumption today(2020; 2008 it was still 85%) is covered by crude oil, natural gas and coal. These fuels are also known as "fossil energy sources". They consist mainly of the elements carbon and hydrogen; when these fuels are burned, CO<sub>2</sub> and water (H<sub>2</sub>O) are produced.
 These combustion gases are mostly (over 99%) given off into the atmosphere. The water doesn't cause problems, however; it is the  global CO<sub>2</sub> content of the atmosphere which constantly keeps increasing, significantly and measurably (see the following illustration), due to the continued burning of fossil fuels. That the increase measured in the Atmosphere's CO<sub>2</sub> contend (see the Graph following) is indeed mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels was independently proven by measurements of the development of the Carbon (C)-isotopes in the air: [[http://www.skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html| See: antgropogenic CO2?]] - Fossil fuels do not contain a large amount of the <sup>14</sup>C-isotope.
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 > **CO<sub>2</sub> therefore functions as an additional layer of insulation enclosing the earth **: an insulation layer which is transparent for the entering sunlight.  Solar radiation is the main energy supply to the earth's surface, that is why we speak of the **greenhouse effect **.\\
 \\
-|{{ :picopen:co2_mauna_kea_messung.png }}|//This time series was obtained from quantitatively analysed sam-\\ ples of air at the Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii. The yearly\\ variation of the CO<sub>2</sub> content due to the change in vegetation on\\ the northern hemisphere can be seen clearly.// |
+|{{ :picopen:co2_mauna_kea_messung.png }}|//This time series was obtained from quantitatively analysed samples of air at the Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii. The yearly variation of the CO<sub>2</sub> content due to the change in vegetation on the northern hemisphere can be seen clearly. (Data up to 2006. In the meantime the level is still continuously rising, e.g. at 414 ppm in 2020.)// |
 |//**The increase of the CO<sub>2</sub> content of the earth's atmosphere.**
 Since 1900 the concentration of CO<sub>2</sub> has increased from  293 to 380 ppm, i.e. by 30%. The additional CO<sub>2</sub> is due almost without exception to combustion processes. (1ppm = 1 part per million = 0.0001 %).\\ **Source of information:** [C.D. Keeling, T.P. Whorf, and the Carbon Dioxide Research Group Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)], University of California, La Jolla.