Ernst-Georg Beck’s monumental work on historic CO2-measurement is published.
For a long time, we have been told that the increase in Atmospheric CO2 measured since 1959 is due to our use of fossil fuel. In our journal we have published many articles showing that this is not the case. Only a few per cent of the present atmospheric CO2 originated in antropogenic sources (See articles by Salby & Harde, Harde, Berry and Schrøder).
The relation between sea temperature and CO2 abundance is now confirmed by a monumental work by Ernst-Georg Beck, who found 200 000 single samples of air analyzed with chemical methods. The measurements were published in 979 technical papers. The CO2 content showed daily, yearly and seasonal variations. Beck selected about 100 000 samples with documented meteorological conditions. Relations between CO2 and wind speed, CO2 and precipitation, minimum value during the day or the year gave him the opportunity to estimate atmospheric values from the ground with an error of a few per cent. He concluded that there are repeated fluctuations in concert with the surface temperature variations of the sea. It supports the view that it is impossible for men to correct the CO2 content of our atmosphere.
Beck tried to publish his results but died in 2010 before the final rejection of the paper was known to him. Professor Harald Yndestad in Aalesund was asked by his family to take care of the paper, and he has submitted it to SCC for a postmortem publication. The editor finds the paper extremely interesting, and in particular Beck’s method of estimation of atmospheric values of CO2 from ground measurements.
In order to check Beck’s method I have spent more than one year doing ground measurements at beaches and inland locations n Norway from the Skagerak to the Barents sea, and is surprised to see how close to the Mauna Loa measurements I get when the wind is strong and if it just has rained – being the right time of the day and the year. Just as advised by Beck’s methods. More stringent analysis of the pattern present in Beck’s CO2 estimates will be presented in a later issue of SCC. We invite the scientific community to a serious study of a monumental work.
You find Beck’s paper about Beck 2010 reconstruction of atmospheric CO2 and Yndestad 2022 publication of Becks CO2 series.
Jan-Erik Solheim, Editor.