Abstract
The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is steadily rising at the present day due to human activities. In pre-industrial times, before 1800, the concentration was ca. 280 ppmv (parts per million by volume, or mixing ratio). Since then it has risen at an increasing rate, as shown by ice-core measurements (Friedli et al., 1986) and by direct atmospheric measurements since 1958 (Keeling et al., 1995; Mauna Loa Data, 1997). Air bubbles trapped in polar ice preserve a very long-term record of CO2 concentrations, and direct measurements on this air have shown that CO2 concentrations were some 100 ppmv lower in glacial periods, at ca. 180 ppmv (Barnola et al., 1987; Raynaud et al., 1993). The concentration of CO2 rose at the end of the last glaciation and was ca. 270 ppmv in the CO2 record from the Taylor Dome ice core at 5–6000 yr BP (Indermühle et al., 1999).
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Birks, H.H. (2000). The amount of CO2 in the air breathed by the Iceman. In: Bortenschlager, S., Oeggl, K. (eds) The Iceman and his Natural Environment. The Man in the Ice, vol 4. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6758-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6758-8_3
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