What really is man's fossil fuel co2 load

Gentlemen,

I took this answer to your question (at least partial) from an internet site:

cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html

The numbers sound reasonable. Hope this helps you.

Ian

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Q. What percentage of the CO2 in the atmosphere has been produced by human beings through the burning of fossil fuels?

A. Anthropogenic CO2 comes from fossil fuel combustion, changes in land use (e.g., forest clearing), and cement manufacture. Houghton and Hackler have estimated land-use changes from 1850-2000, so it is convenient to use 1850 as our starting point for the following discussion. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations had not changed appreciably over the preceding 850 years (IPCC; The Scientific Basis) so it may be safely assumed that they would not have changed appreciably in the 150 years from 1850 to 2000 in the absence of human intervention.

In the following calculations, we will express atmospheric concentrations of CO2 in units of parts per million by volume (ppmv). Each ppmv represents 2.13 X1015 grams, or 2.13 petagrams of carbon (PgC) in the atmosphere. According to Houghton and Hackler, land-use changes from 1850-2000 resulted in a net transfer of 154 PgC to the atmosphere. During that same period, 282 PgC were released by combustion of fossil fuels, and 5.5 additional PgC were released to the atmosphere from cement manufacture. This adds up to 154 + 282 + 5.5 = 441.5 PgC, of which 282/444.1 = 64% is due to fossil-fuel combustion.

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations rose from 288 ppmv in 1850 to 369.5 ppmv in 2000, for an increase of 81.5 ppmv, or 174 PgC. In other words, about 40% (174/441.5) of the additional carbon has remained in the atmosphere, while the remaining 60% has been transferred to the oceans and terrestrial biosphere.

The 369.5 ppmv of carbon in the atmosphere, in the form of CO2, translates into 787 PgC, of which 174 PgC has been added since 1850. From the second paragraph above, we see that 64% of that 174 PgC, or 111 PgC, can be attributed to fossil-fuel combustion. This represents about 14% (111/787) of the carbon in the atmosphere in the form of CO2.

14%........interesting. Now how can we control the other 86%?

We can't but we didn't need to. The "other 86%" was controlled by the oceans and the terrestrial biosphere.

Incidentally, the figures in wylie's link are slightly out of date. The CO2 concentration is now ~385 ppmv which implies that ~97 ppmv have been added since since 1850. Using the 64% figure (which is now on the low side) as the percentage from fossil fuels yields 16% of atmospheric CO2 which can be attributed to fossil fuel combustion.

Of course these figures are just IPCC propaganda. The IPCC models wrongly assume that the oceans can only absorb CO2. Basic chemistry will tell you that a warm ocean will hold less CO2 and this out gassing accounts for most of the rise. If you build this into the models you get down to about 3% human. Lets not forget that CO2 accounts for only appx 3% of all of the greenhouse gases so you get only a minuscule effect on climate due to human CO2 emmisions.

Now that the sun has gone quiet, the CO2 rate of rise has already started to flatten off.

Nope just read the ippc answer above and I still can't find the figure for the amount of CO2 released by the warming oceans during the solar maximum. Big trouble with the ipcc theory as CO2 levels have been in the 1000's of part per million many times before without mans assistance. To assume that the oceans only absorb CO2 at whatever temperature is nonsense and you know it steve.

Sounds like you've misunderstood. Probably you might have to explain where all man's CO2 emissions have gone if you think they had no effect (I could suggest an answer, but I wouldn't like to suffer the fate of your alter ego).

The uptake is a function of ocean temperatures and the partial pressure of CO2. The increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere raises the partial pressure resulting in a net uptake by the ocean at the moment. There will also be a net uptake by plants because an increase in CO2 from current levels increases plant growth.

On geological timescales other factors may influence the levels of CO2. For example, CO2 dissolved in water will weather rocks. It tends to result, ultimately, in the creation of sedimentary rocks so removing the CO2 from the atmosphere. Possibly, the rise of the Himalayas exposed sufficient rocks to reduce CO2 levels to the point where the current ice age began.

No they don't. The oceans are absorbing more co2 than they emit though.



Basic chemistry also tells you that a warm ocean will absorb more co2 if there is an abundance of co2 in the atmosphere.



How do you consistently get it wrong unless you are doing it on purpose?
www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/