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76 SCIPAD - BIG IDEAS - BOOK 2
FUELS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere - The Keeling Curve (continued)
Use the data tables and your graph on the previous pages to help answer the following questions.
1. In which year was the average temperature:
(a) the highest? (b) the lowest?
(c) What is the overall trend in temperature?
2. In which year was the CO2 concentration:
(a) the highest? (b) the lowest?
(c) What is the overall trend in CO2 levels?
3. Does the increase in temperature seem to be linked to the increase in CO2 concentration?
Explain your answer.
4. Assuming the carbon dioxide concentration continues to increase at the same rate, estimate:
(a) CO2 concentration in the atmosphere in 2030:
(b) The average temperature in 2030:
5. What is causing the increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere?
6. The graph below shows a more accurate Keeling Curve constructed using data from the
Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.
(a) Suggest a possible reason for the yearly variation in CO2 concentration (as shown by
the enlarged section of the graph).
(b) Mauna Loa Observatory is high on the slopes of a volcano in an isolated part of Hawaii.
Explain why this location makes it a good site for measuring CO2 concentrations.
1960
310
320
330
340
350
360
370
380
390
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 2000
1990 1995 2005
Jan
Annual Cycle of CO2 Concentration
April July Oct Jan
Annual Average CO2 Concentration
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