Biology / Unit 14 Bio 3523 short lesson, about 20 seconds
How Atmospheric Greenhouse-Gas Concentration Is Measured
Captions available
The idea
Greenhouse-gas concentration is tracked via direct-air sampling and ice-core records of trapped air.
In practice
A polar ice core's trapped air bubbles let researchers measure composition from thousands of years before direct sampling began.
Where people slip
Treating ice-core data as identical to direct-air sampling is the error: one infers past composition, the other measures present air.
Your place on the trail
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