Data Sources
CO2.Earth relies on institutional science sources for much of the data and information that is found on this website. CO2.Earth would not be possible without the resource-instensive 'earth monitoring' and publishing by scientists and the institutions they work for. This page acknowledges data sources that are frequently used at the site. The list that follows is not comprehensive.
Climate Interactive
Climate Interactive is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that, among other activities, publishes a Climate Scoreboard and projections for atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
Climate Research Unit (CRU)
In the UK, the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (with the Hadley Centre at the UK MET Office) publishes data for global and hemispheric temperature averages.
Global Carbon Project (GCP)
The Global Carbon Project publishes the following:
NASA GISS
In the USA, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) reports global surface temperature data.
NOAA-ESRL
In the USA, the Earth System Research Laboratory at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
NOAA-NCDC
In the USA, the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports:
- monthly and yearly State of the Climate summaries (both a global analysis and a US analysis)
- global surface temperature anomalies
Note: NCEI is replacing NCDC for data access.
NOAA-NCEI
In the USA, NOAA's National Centres for Environmental Information (NCEI) provide public access to one of the most significant archives of environmental data on earth. NCEI partners include:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)
In the USA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography publishes data for atmospheric greenhouse gases, including CO2. Data is accessed by two websites and one social media feed:
Skeptical Science (SkS)
SkepticalScience.com produces graphics and information that you can find referenced on many CO2.Earth pages. These are mostly secondary sources that communicate scientific information for people of different levels of scientific knowledge. Among the many resources the site makes available, a team of translators makes a number of articles and graphics available in a number of languages.
SkS is recommended as an excellent resource for checking skeptical claims and beliefs that humans are not causing global warming, or that scientists have made tehcnial errors.
More Data Lists
RealClimate.org posts a catalogue of data sources, plus a "start here" primer. They are another good starting point if you are looking for authoritative data sources. RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists.
RealClimate Data Sources
RealClimate Start Here
Team
CO2.Earth is produced by Mike McGee. The site is mostly self-funded by Mike and his spouse, Traci. Mike's friend Bill has managed the Facebook page since it was launched in September 2011. A few dozen people have contributed writing, donations and technical services. CO2.Earth is a small citizen-led initiative.
Core content found at CO2.Earth is ultimately the product of science. Understanding of the global carbon cycle and the larger earth system have developed significantly over the past two centuries. This includes the work of notable scientists Svante Arrhenius and Charles David Keeling. More contemporary data and knowledge is found at notable institutions such as Scripps, NOAA, the Met Office, CSIRO, NASA, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Global Carbon Project and Climate Interactive. CO2.Earth operates independently of these institutions to bring many of Earth's 'big planetary numbers' together in a context that is easy to understand. Anyone wanting to explore the data and information at CO2.Earth are encouraged to look at the rich collection of data and information available online from these and other institutions.
CO2.Earth would not be possible without the scientific data and information that they make publicly accessible. Technologically, it would not be possible without the cumulative contributions of programmers and developers worldwide who are part of the open source software movement.
CO2.Earth is proud to take its place as a founding member of the community of new community of .earth websites. These sites come with a pledge to do away things that harm earth and its inhabitants. CO2.Earth helps people see emissions harms, scientific advice to do away with them, and pathways for doing that.
In short, CO2.Earth is a part-time operations with a skeleton crew. And it's part of a much larger human enterprise to learn about the earth and learning to improve the human-nature relationship.
Contributors
Individuals acknolwedged here is a partial list of people who assisted and advanced the project in a variety of ways.
Sonia Marin, Web Development (Spain)
Jack Luis. Media Advice (Canada)
Bill James, Technical Advice (Canada)
Rajendra Tiwari, Web Development (India)
Tracking the Trend with You
CO2.Earth makes it easy for you and other people around the world to track key planetary changes as they happen. Visit CO2.Earth at your convenience to get the latest readings for atmospheric CO2, global temperature, global emissions, and pH in seawater.
This citizen-launched website saves you and other interested citizens from needing to figure out where on the internet to find source data and information that provides a current and holistic picture of what is happening to the planet we inhabit. It brings it all together in formats that people can use whether they know a little or a lot about global earth system change. The site is a kind of global online learning place where non-specialists can discover and explore some of the best sources of knowledge about our planet.
Ultimatley, CO2.Earth is a 'track and learn' website with a purpose. That purpose is to empower the global public to connect with changes at the planetary level and learn enough to discover for themselves what is needed to stabilize the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere--and other parts of the interconnected earth system along with it. CO2.Earth is about citizens engaging with the planet that brought our species into the cosmos.
This project is starting small with large aims and great hope. The site was pulled together quickly and launched with some pieces unfinished or unpolished. Some errors are inevitable. Corrections, suggestions and offers to assist are welcome.
CO2.Earth in Brief
| SITE LAUNCH |
| November 13, 2015 |
| PRODUCER |
| Mike McGee |
| HEADQUARTERS |
| Vancouver Island, Canada |
| EVOLUTION OF THE CO2 RE-POSTING PROJECT |
| SERVERS |
| Solar Powered in California, USA |
| PAID EMPLOYEES |
| 0 |
| PART-TIME VOLUNTEERS |
| 2 |
| TRANSLATION FOR ARTICLES |
| 57 languages |
Related
CO2.Earth 2015: CO2.Earth Launch
CO2.Earth Website Production
CO2.Earth Clean Energy
CO2.Earth Recognitions
Research
CO2.Earth is influenced by research in environmental education and earth system science. References and links are distributed throughout the website. Here, two quotations have been selected that reflect some of the more philosophical thinking behind the selection and organization of content at CO2.Earth.
First, the following quote summarizes a workshop presentation on climate change education in grades K-14 by Daniel Edelson, VP at the National Geographic Society: "Most of what one needs to understand in order to be climate-literate has nothing to do with climate in particular, but rather is covered by the fundamentals of earth systems science" (National Research Council, 2012, p. 6).
Second, Edward T. Clark Jr. (1997) articulates the importance of systems thinking (and its focus on the whole) as a complement to the scientific method that can provide an understanding of the mechanisms that describe how things work. In shot, he writes: "Systems thinking makes it possible to know more with less information." For example, monthly means from the Mauna Loa CO2 record tells us a great deal about the earth system with less than 700 data points.
References
Clark, E. T. (1997). Designing and implementing an integrated curriculum: A student-centered approach. Brandon, Vermont: Holistic Education Press.
National Research Council. (2012). Climate change education in formal settings, K-14: A workshop summary, A. Beatty, Rapporteur. Steering Committee on Climate Change Education in Formal Settings, K-14. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13435
