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How do they know CO2 levels 500 years back? And what happened in 1600 for them to drop?
by v1l 3y ago
How do they know CO2 levels 500 years back? And what happened in 1600 for them to drop?
- draaglom 3y agohow: ice cores (I don't know the answer re: 1600s)
- delecti 3y agoI'm no expert, but it seems one prominent theory on why CO2 dropped around 1600 is that it's a result of Europeans killing so many indigenous Americans. The reduction in agriculture led to forests regrowing, giving a temporary boost to CO2 sequestration. The CO2 dip is referred to as the "Orbis Spike". This seems to be one of the better results on the subject: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2015/mar/epoch-defining-study-pinpoints-when-humans-came-dominate-planet-earth https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2015/mar/epoch-defining-study-pin...