A true pioneer of science
has passed away:
Charles David Keeling, the world's leading authority on atmospheric greenhouse gas accumulation and climate science pioneer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), died Monday, June 20, 2005, while at his Montana home, of a heart attack. He was 77 years old. Keeling has been affiliated with Scripps since 1956.
Keeling was the first to confirm the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide by very precise measurements that produced a data set now known widely as the "Keeling curve." Prior to his investigations, it was unknown whether the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities would accumulate in the atmosphere instead of being fully absorbed by the oceans and vegetated areas on land. He became the first to determine definitively the fraction of carbon dioxide from combustion that remains in the atmosphere. The Keeling record of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, and at other "pristine air" locations, represents what many believe to be the most important time-series data set for the study of global change.
Here's the "Keeling Curve": (click to enlarge)
(Click
here for another version).
Follow me below the fold.
That's a simple, beautiful, and obviously very important plot. Those of us in the reality-based community understand its significance, whether or not we're scientists.
The press release from Scripps continues with a statement from one of Keeling's collegues:
"There are three occasions when dedication to scientific measurements has changed all of science," said Charles F. Kennel, Scripps director. "Tycho Brahe's observations of planets laid the foundation for Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation. Albert Michelson's measurements of the speed of light laid the foundation for Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Charles David Keeling's measurements of the global accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere set the stage for today's profound concerns about climate change. They are the single most important environmental data set taken in the 20th century.
Given the nature of Keeling's work, it's ironic that:
In 2002, President George W. Bush selected Keeling to receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in scientific research. In its awards announcement, the National Science Foundation (NSF), which administers the National Medals of Science for the White House, noted that Keeling "pioneered studies on the impact of the carbon cycle to changes in climate, collecting some of the most important data in the study of global climate change."
One of his publications was written for the
Mauna Loa Observatory's twentieth anniversary, in 1978. It's interesting reading, and not too painfully technical. Definitely check it out:
THE INFLUENCE OF MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2 RESEARCH