Carbon Dioxide
Data, Graphs, and Maps
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Chemistry, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by NASA
What it is
- NASA's Vital Signs resource on carbon dioxide presents an interactive CO2 chart from 2005 to present, a graph of CO2 dating back 800,000 years, and an animation of global CO2 levels between 2002 and 2016.
- There are links to more information provided and the graphs can be downloaded.
- Atmospheric CO2 levels are measured at the NOAA observatory in Mauna Loa.
Teaching tips
Positives
- Students can see the level of carbon dioxide increase over time and see where it tends to increase geographically.
Prerequisites
- Students should know how to read a graph.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Advanced students could investigate the reasons for carbon dioxide levels fluctuating so drastically in the Northern Hemisphere as compared to the Southern Hemisphere.
- This is a great resource for lessons about photosynthesis, the carbon cycle, nutrient cycling, weather, Earth's tilt and seasons, Earth's orbit around the sun, or climate change.
- Any class could use this resource for fact-checking, research, or data analysis.
- Other resources about this topic include this table of solutions to climate change and this interactive data resource.
From the scientist review
This resource, updated monthly, shows the continued increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Importantly, it puts the recent increases in context of a longer time-scale, thanks to ice-core records from Antarctica. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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Hosted on climate.nasa.gov
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