 Approximately how much does CO2 concentration vary over the course of one year?

 What advantages are there to measuring CO2 content in the atmosphere in Hawaii rather than on the continental United States?

 Fill in the blanks below to calculate Total Change in Average CO2 concentrations over the entire time period of the graph above:

avg. CO2 conc. in 2012 - avg. CO2 conc. in 1957 = Total Change in CO2

 What is the Average Annual Change in CO2 concentration?

Remember:

Total change in average CO2 ÷ Number of years of data collection = Ave. Rate of Change

The wiggles seen on the graph in Figure 1 result from seasonal changes in CO2 concentration. This is driven by changes during the winter season of Earth’s Northern Hemisphere (which has more land mass and a higher population than the Southern Hemisphere).

 Suggest 2 reasons why CO2 concentration would increase when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. (Hint: consider what happens to plants in the winter time and how this would affect CO2 levels in the atmosphere and consider how the behavior of humans changes in the winter time.)