2 ms·
The 1 ppm = 7.81Gt is correct, but the 2900Gt figure isn't atmospheric total, it's total emissions. Not all emissions end up staying in the atmosphere, so it do
by phaemon 7y ago
The 1 ppm = 7.81Gt is correct, but the 2900Gt figure isn't atmospheric total, it's total emissions. Not all emissions end up staying in the atmosphere, so it doesn't translate exactly across.
- tunesmith 7y agoThanks - I didn't realize that this is actually one of arguments that skeptics make - the matter of the correlation between CO2 in the atmosphere, and CO2 emissions. I see some indications that the rule of thumb is that roughly 60% of emissions stay in the atmosphere, which makes the current numbers make more sense again, but so far I haven't found anything more authoritative. And I see some estimates that 430 ppm corresponds to 1.5 degrees, while 450 ppm corresponds to 2 degrees, but 60% doesn't work for the 2900gT = 2 degrees estimate.