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To: cogitator
Sources and sinks of CO2 have been well-quantified, and the increasing CO2 concentration of the atmosphere is, without doubt, a consequence of the burning of fossil fuels for energy production...

From Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric CO2:
So great are the magnitudes of these reservoirs, the rates of exchange between them, and the uncertainties with which these numbers are estimated that the source of the recent rise in atmospheric CO2 has not been determined with certainty. (We are adding and subtracting very large numbers here, each themselves with significant uncertainties and trying to determine the source of a small balance. Your conclusion is based on noise.)

...The rapid increase in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere this century is unprecedented in the climate record.

Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are reported to have varied widely over geological time, with peaks, according to some estimates some 20-fold higher than at present and lows at approximately 18th century levels. (That means CO2 levels we see now are a bit on the low side compared to the geological record. Hmmm.

59 posted on 01/07/2003 2:12:03 PM PST by pjd
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To: pjd
A figure worth pondering.

Note where we are relative to the past 3000 years. Also recall that there is evidence that CO2 levels follow the temperature.

60 posted on 01/07/2003 2:39:01 PM PST by pjd
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