The greenhouse effect has been a topic of scientific interest for over a century, with the first paper connecting carbon dioxide to climate change published in 1896.
However, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that definitive evidence emerged linking human activity to atmospheric changes.
In 1956, United States scientist Charles Keeling established a groundbreaking atmospheric measuring station at the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii.
This location was strategically chosen for its isolation in the Pacific Ocean and high altitude, which minimized the influence of urban pollution.
From 1958 onward, data collected at Mauna Loa provided unprecedented clarity on climate change, allowing scientists to track global CO₂ levels.
The famous Keeling curve emerged from this data, illustrating the year-on-year increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, this vital record is now under threat as President Donald Trump has decided to defund the Mauna Loa observatory, along with other crucial climate monitoring programs in the U.S.
The potential closure of this observatory would be a significant setback for climate science, as effective monitoring is essential for understanding and addressing the challenge of climate change.
The first years of measurements at Mauna Loa unveiled a remarkable annual cycle in atmospheric CO₂.
The cycle corresponds with the seasonal growth patterns of plants: during summer, plants absorb CO₂, thereby reducing its concentration in the atmosphere, while decaying plant matter in winter releases CO₂ back into the air.
Since the majority of terrestrial land is in the Northern Hemisphere, this cyclical pattern is predominantly influenced by seasonal changes in that region.
As the years progressed, data revealed an even more concerning trend: a relentless rise in atmospheric CO₂ levels.
While natural cycles continued, human activity was causing a steady increase in carbon dioxide concentration.
Research later determined that oceans and terrestrial ecosystems absorb nearly half of the CO₂ emissions produced by humans; however, the remainder accumulates in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
Crucially, isotopic measurements allowed scientists to deduce the source of this excess carbon dioxide, tracing it primarily to human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.
Having collected data for over 65 years, Mauna Loa’s observatory is a critical contributor to climate science through the Keeling curve, which powerfully demonstrates the influence of human activities on the Earth’s climate.
When the Baby Boomer generation was born in the 1960s, atmospheric CO₂ levels hovered around 320 parts per million.
Today, this figure has surged past 420 ppm—levels not seen for at least three million years.
The rate at which CO₂ is increasing now far exceeds any natural fluctuation recorded over the last 50 million years.
The importance of carbon dioxide stems from its unique properties as a greenhouse gas; it effectively traps heat in the atmosphere, ensuring that Earth is not an uninhabitable frozen rock.
Without greenhouse gases, Earth’s average temperature would be approximately -18°C instead of the current 14°C, under which human civilization has thrived.
While the greenhouse effect is essential for life, excessive greenhouse gas concentrations lead to dangerously high temperatures, a situation we are currently facing.
The need for ongoing monitoring cannot be overstated.
As the planet warms, both the ocean and land are expected to absorb less CO₂ from human emissions, resulting in even greater accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Thus, continuous, high-precision monitoring is crucial for detecting these changes and understanding their implications.
Such monitoring enables scientists to verify whether new climate policies effectively impact the atmospheric CO₂ curve, rather than simply being empty promises.
It will also be critical in capturing the moment when government interventions and emerging technologies succeed in slowing or reversing the trajectory of CO₂ increases.
President Trump’s plans to defund significant climate monitoring systems, alongside the rollback of green energy initiatives, represent a global challenge.
The closure of these systems would hinder not only weather forecasting but also the prediction of extreme weather events, which could have severe consequences.
Scientists across the U.S. and the world have raised alarms about the potential ramifications of discontinuing climate data collection.
The metaphor of breaking a thermometer because of an aversion to bad news illustrates how counterproductive such actions would be.
If the U.S. proceeds with these plans, countries worldwide may need to reevaluate their commitments to climate data collection and sharing.
Australia has been actively measuring atmospheric CO₂ levels since 1976 at the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in Tasmania.
If Mauna Loa ceases operation, other monitoring stations like Kennaook will take on even more significance in global climate observations.
The response from Australian leaders regarding the U.S. retreat from climate monitoring remains uncertain, yet there is a pressing need for Australia to not only maintain but also strategically expand its atmospheric and environmental monitoring capabilities.
image source from：theconversation
