Spring Break
Ice core leads to discovery of new greenhouse gas
Researchers in geosciences, ocean sciences benefit from information on methane, CO2
Daniel Acee
Issue date: 5/23/08 Section: News
A graph of the gases and temperatures found in the ice core shows a spike in methane, carbon dioxide and temperature levels just after the industrial revolution.
This provides valid information about the start of fossil fuel burning.
Carbon dioxide sat at an averaged level of 300 parts per million over the past 800,000 years.
Once the industrial revolution began, the average moved up to 382 ppm. Methane averaged 800 parts per billion and now have reached 1800 ppb.
Brook and others are attempting to find the patterns of climate change over the entirety of Earth's history.
"Something has to happen to the Earth's system to raise CO2 levels," Brook said.
"If we found gas and temperature levels to be the same then as they are today, we could say that the greenhouse effects are not ours, but we jacked these levels up so fast we're just waiting for Earth to respond."
Data from the ice core has reinforced the tight link between greenhouse gases and climate.
This link is shown through reactions that the earth has shown since greenhouse gases have started to rise.
"I get a lot of e-mails from skeptics that try to tell me that humans have no direct relation to the increase in carbon dioxide," Brook said. "There is a lot of misinformation out there about how science works, but none of it adds up."
According to Brooks, OSU has a group of a dozen professors that are passionate about studying the earth's past climates.
"I like this field because it's a global issue, these are the workings of the entire earth," said Brooks. "Its fascinating to just ponder how this all works together. This isn't just an academic issue, it effects all of us."
James Lee is a member of Brook's research team and enjoys having Brook as a boss.
"It's really interesting to watch the progression and changes [of gases and temperatures] over time," Lee said. "You can see epic events that happened throughout history in terms of methane levels."
"I was not totally aware about it [Brook's article in "Nature"], he's very modest and doesn't talk about it a lot, he gets published fairly frequently though," Lee said.
If you are interested in learning more about greenhouse gases and new discoveries in the geosciences and oceanography fields visit science.oregonstate.edu/~brooke
Daniel Acee, senior reporter
news@dailybarometer.com
This provides valid information about the start of fossil fuel burning.
Carbon dioxide sat at an averaged level of 300 parts per million over the past 800,000 years.
Once the industrial revolution began, the average moved up to 382 ppm. Methane averaged 800 parts per billion and now have reached 1800 ppb.
Brook and others are attempting to find the patterns of climate change over the entirety of Earth's history.
"Something has to happen to the Earth's system to raise CO2 levels," Brook said.
"If we found gas and temperature levels to be the same then as they are today, we could say that the greenhouse effects are not ours, but we jacked these levels up so fast we're just waiting for Earth to respond."
Data from the ice core has reinforced the tight link between greenhouse gases and climate.
This link is shown through reactions that the earth has shown since greenhouse gases have started to rise.
"I get a lot of e-mails from skeptics that try to tell me that humans have no direct relation to the increase in carbon dioxide," Brook said. "There is a lot of misinformation out there about how science works, but none of it adds up."
According to Brooks, OSU has a group of a dozen professors that are passionate about studying the earth's past climates.
"I like this field because it's a global issue, these are the workings of the entire earth," said Brooks. "Its fascinating to just ponder how this all works together. This isn't just an academic issue, it effects all of us."
James Lee is a member of Brook's research team and enjoys having Brook as a boss.
"It's really interesting to watch the progression and changes [of gases and temperatures] over time," Lee said. "You can see epic events that happened throughout history in terms of methane levels."
"I was not totally aware about it [Brook's article in "Nature"], he's very modest and doesn't talk about it a lot, he gets published fairly frequently though," Lee said.
If you are interested in learning more about greenhouse gases and new discoveries in the geosciences and oceanography fields visit science.oregonstate.edu/~brooke
Daniel Acee, senior reporter
news@dailybarometer.com
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