THEY HAVEN'T A CLUE

When you begin to read summaries from all the conflicting studies you immediately get the impression that our understanding of the Earth and its climate amounts to virtually nothing.  The latest:

You know how Al Gore's acolytes in the scientific community have been telling us that a CO2 buildup in the atmosphere is the leading cause of global warming?  Well, it now appears that not only is the globe not warming but there is no buildup of CO2 either.

For the love of God:

No Rise of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fraction in Past 160 Years, New Research Finds
Science Daily

Most of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity does not remain in the atmosphere, but is instead absorbed by the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. In fact, only about 45 percent of emitted carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere.

To assess whether the airborne fraction is indeed increasing, Wolfgang Knorr of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol reanalyzed available atmospheric carbon dioxide and emissions data since 1850 and considers the uncertainties in the data.

In contradiction to some recent studies, he finds that the airborne fraction of carbon dioxide has not increased either during the past 150 years or during the most recent five decades.

The research is published in Geophysical Research Letters. [link]

This is just another piece of evidence that at best the global warming zealots don't know what they're talking about and at worst they are dead wrong.

I say we alter our way of life (through taxation?) until these geniuses get their story straight.

- - -

Update 01.07.10: I received the following response via email from a scientist who has been studying atmospheric CO2 and thought I needed to amend my post for clarity.  I agree.  His response (in part):

You might wish to revisit your source and your January 1 post entitled "They haven't a clue".  While I grant that the title of the (Geophysical Research Letters) article is confusing, it does state that the carbon dioxide fraction showed little change over the past 160 years of their investigation.  In other words, the percentages of CO2 absorbed by the oceans and land vs. the percentage remaining in the atmosphere remained relatively constant.  However, the absolute amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere did increase over this period.  For example the US Dept. of Energy reports that the amount of CO2 just from the consumption of fossil fuels in US emitted into the atmosphere increased approximately 700 million metric tons between 1995 and 2005 to  a total of 5,972 million metric tons.  Of this total we can calculate that 55% or 3,285 million metric tons of CO2 were absorbed by the oceans and forests while 45%, or 2,687 million metric tons of CO2 remained in the atmosphere.  We can addtionally calculate that the percentage of that the absolute amount of CO2 remaining the atmosphere in 2005 was 315 million metric tons  greater than in 1995 (45% of 700) - a fairly significant increase in just a 10 year period.  We should also note that once resident in the atmosphere, the vast majority of CO2 will remain in the atmosphere for centuries. 

In other words, the more CO2 we put into the atmosphere the more will remain there - and more will be absorbed by the oceans and forests.  It is the absolute amount that matters, not the fractional amount, or percentage.  There is indeed a buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere, and it is building up at an increasing rate.  On a personal note, when I began a five- year period of continuous CO2 atmospheric measurement in the late 60's the average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 312 ppm (parts per million); it is currently 387 ppm, a 25% increase in just 50 years.  It is due to what I have personally observed that I have become concerned and involved. 

However, it is equally important to note that the article that you cited (Science Daily) concludes with the statement that:

"In contradiction to some recent studies, he finds that the airborne fraction of carbon dioxide has not increased either during the past 150 years or during the most recent five decades." as you have included.  In other words, article originally published in Geophysical Research Letters, and then abstracted by Science Daily contains the disclaimer that the article is at odds with most recent research which shows that the fraction of CO2 absorbed by the oceans and forests has actually declined by approximately 4% over the last decade.  If this decrease continues over a longer time period it will indeed be a cause for concern.