ROCHESTER, N.Y. — This is about greenhouse gases and the importance and how they interact in our atmosphere. Incoming solar radiation, also known as short wave energy, brings in the warmth of the sun.

The nighttime brings outgoing heat, known as longwave energy. To sustain life on Earth we have to balance this incoming and outgoing energy and what enables us to keep this balance is greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vaper (H2O). These types of gases block much of that outgoing radiation. But without these gases it would be unbearable cold and life of Earth would be vastly different. In a sense, it is CO2 and H20 (along with other gases in our atmosphere) that are responsible for making life comfortable for us on Earth.

When it becomes a problem is when we start to see an imbalance in some of these gases. An example of this is the amount of carbon dioxide and how it has changed over the decades. It is measured at many locations on Earth, but the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has been continually measuring CO2 for more than 65 years. It shows a steady upward trend during most of that time period.  Named after the scientist Charles Keeling, it is known as the “Keeling Curve”. A closer inspection of this CO2 chart shows very small up and down variations within a single year.

This, consistent with the seasonal variations when the spring and summer growth, takes hold. Think of this as the Earth “breathing” when the new blooms occur in the northern hemisphere the plants take in the CO2, but when the winter season sets in the CO2 is no longer consumed and will go up again.  

Proof of the accuracy of these measurements is the milestones created by economic impact. During the financial crisis of 2008 there was a distinct downturn in the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. In addition, when we had an economic downturn during the COVID – 19 pandemic, this also produced a significant decrease in carbon.  

How about an even longer record before we had the use of modern technology?  Employing a so called climate proxy such as coral reefs or ice cores this technique equates to essentially a time capsule from hundreds of years ago. That record shows from the pre-industrial age the measurements of CO2 are now 50 percent higher.  It should be noted that is not just CO2 that is rising.  It is also methane and nitrous oxide. We call it anthropogenic gases (human activity) and it is having an impact on our atmosphere. The question is how much of an impact?