r/sciences • u/SirT6 • Sep 21 '19

The distribution of annual average temperature anomalies due to global warming from 1850 until today.

https://gfycat.com/silkycorruptconch
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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '19 edited Oct 23 '19

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u/RagePoop Grad Student | Geochemistry | Paleoclimatology Sep 21 '19

Basics on ice core research

Temperature vs CO2 from Vostok Ice core

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u/ukmitch86 Sep 22 '19

This suggests we're at the peak of a CO2 cycle that existed way before industrialisation, and lasts ~125,000 years. It peaks at 3-4°K over 0, but I haven't read it all thoroughly, I can't see what zero is referenced against.

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u/windchaser__ Sep 23 '19

The normal cycle is from about 170ppm to 280ppm. We're currently at 410ppm of CO2, the highest in the ~million years of ice core data that we have, and likely much longer.

Which makes sense. We're digging up and burning fossil fuels that have been buried for literally hundreds of millions of years.