Distribution of and changes in industrial carbon dioxide production

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Abstract

<jats:p>The burning of fossil fuels is believed to be the major source responsible for an observed increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now measured at many locations around the world. This paper revises earlier published data on the annual amounts of carbon released to the atmosphere during the period 1950–1978 and updates the record through 1980. A latitudinal distribution of the fossil fuel source is presented as an aid in explaining the differences in the observed CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> concentrations at several stations.</jats:p><jats:p>Data from Mauna Loa Observatory, the South Pole, and elsewhere around the world [<jats:italic>Keeling et al.</jats:italic>, 1978<jats:italic>a, b; Bolin and Bischof</jats:italic>, 1970; <jats:italic>Herbert</jats:italic>, 1980] show an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Attempts to deduce from these records information about the global carbon cycle depend upon data pertaining to the sources of CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> introduced by man‐burning of fossil fuels and conversion of the world's forests. The latitudinal distribution of the fossil fuel production of CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> should be an important aid in carbon‐cycle analysis.</jats:p><jats:p>Observations in the atmosphere show that the Northern Hemisphere CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> concentration is increasing more rapidly than the Southern Hemisphere concentration and that the most rapid increase is at 50°–60°N latitude. The greatest seasonal variation also occurs in this latitude band. This paper updates and documents the fossil fuel sources of CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>. It revises global CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> emission values for 1950–1978 published earlier; it demonstrates that a change in the rate of increase of annual CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> emissions occurred in 1973; and it attempts to delineate the regional distribution of this source of CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>.</jats:p>

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