Charles Keeling: a scientific giant
December 5th, 2007 by Jim JustThe Keeling Curve – the sawtoothed upward slope showing rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere – has become one of the most famous graphs in science, a scientific icon belonging alongside E=mc2 and the double helix.
50 years ago a young American scientist, Charles David Keeling, began tracking CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere at the South Pole and the summit of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. His very precise measurements produced a remarkable data set, which first sounded alarm bells over the build-up of the gas in the atmosphere and eventually led to the tracking of greenhouse gases worldwide.
The curve set the scene for the debate over climate change and the human contribution to the greenhouse effect. Keeling’s measurements of CO2 provided the evidence that CO2 was increasing from human activities.