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Tag: Mauna Loa Observatory

Published on Leave a comment on Carbon Dioxide Levels Still Going Up Even When Not Monitored

If there is no data about something, then there is no problem because there is no data that says whether there is a problem or not. Duh... It's the new official US government policy (ignorance is bliss!), whether there is a government shut-down or not.

Unfortunately, in 2025 the US has stopped data collection and actually eliminated many  departments and sites that have been collecting information - whether diseases, losses due to major disasters (which are increasing due to climate change), toxics and pollutants in our air and water, and even how much carbon dioxide is in the air.

The US government announced in 2025 that it would close the Mauna Loa observatory (the Global Monitoring Laboratory) that measures carbon dioxide in the air. Carbon dioxide levels have been steadily increasing since measurements started, due to the burning of fossil fuels (climate change!). Well, with the government shutdown, this is what one sees when going to the site: Nothing much. Many of the old measurements are no longer there, as well as nothing new being graphed.

Luckily, at this point not all data has been removed. As you click through the site, can still see that in August 2025 the carbon dioxide levels were 425.48 ppm and that 10 years ago the weekly level was 398.62 ppm. It's going up year by year.

From Global Monitoring Laboratory: Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Published on Leave a comment on The Erasing Of Climate Science

Going forward, will we even know what is going on in the atmosphere regarding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases? Will there be any data collected and scientific evidence regarding climate change? As you may have heard, all climate change research and knowledge is being eliminated and erased. The words climate change and greenhouse gases  are not to be spoken or written according to the US government.

But even so, what is shocking to scientists is that 4 prestigious observatories operated by the US for decades, and which were instrumental in documenting the increase in greenhouse gases, are to be closed down by the US government. The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has been measuring CO2 levels in the air for over 65 years!

And yup, it has been documenting the steady increase, year after year, of CO2. Due to burning of oil, gas, and coal. In 65 years CO2 levels have increased from 316 ppm to more than 430 parts per million. This is a huge increase!

An article in The Conversation explains why carbon dioxide is so important - how it's needed for a habitable Earth, but too much carbon dioxide is bad.

"The reason carbon dioxide is so important is that this molecule has special properties. Its ability to trap heat alongside other greenhouse gases means Earth isn’t a frozen rock. If there were no greenhouse gases, Earth would have an average temperature of -18°C, rather than the balmy 14°C under which human civilisation emerged.

The greenhouse effect is essential to life. But if there are too many gases, the planet becomes dangerously hot. That’s what’s happening now – a very sharp increase in gases exceptionally good at trapping heat even at low concentrations."

From NY Times: After 7 Decades of Measurements From a Peak in Hawaii, Trump’s Budget Would End Them

More than 11,100 feet above sea level, surrounded by nothing but black rocks, white clouds and blue sky, the Mauna Loa Observatory is in a Goldilocks spot for studying the atmosphere.

The air that swirls around the isolated outpost located on a Hawaiian volcano is a mix from all over the Northern Hemisphere. That makes it one of the best places to measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is indispensable to scientists around the world. ...continue reading "The Erasing Of Climate Science"