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Record of Past Atmospheric CO2 from Tree-Ring and Ice Core Studies

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Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

After assessing the need for data on past atmospheric CO2 and carbon isotope concentrations, we describe in this chapter results recently obtained from tree-ring and ice core studies. Some tree-ring data span the last 2 000 years or so but most deal with the last 200 years, covering the industrial period. A summary of δ13C records from the Northern Hemisphere is presented and compared with a few Southern Hemisphere and other data. Despite some controversy about the magnitude of the global decrease of the atmospheric δ13C in approximately the last 100 years, as recorded in tree-rings, results of calculations to estimate both the non-fossil fuel biospheric CO2 input to the atmosphere and the “pre-industrial” CO2 atmospheric concentration are presented.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Glaciology and Geophysics of the Environment, Grenoble-Cedex, France

    Claude Lorius & Dominique Raynaud

Authors
  1. Claude Lorius
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  2. Dominique Raynaud
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Applied Climatology and Environmental Studies, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    W. Bach

  2. Environmental Physics Section, Central Electricity Research Laboratories, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK

    A. J. Crane

  3. Institut d’Astronomie et de Géophysique Georges Lemaître, Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique

    A. L. Berger

  4. Laboratorio di Cosmo-Geofisica del C.N.R., Torino, Italia

    A. Longhetto

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© 1983 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Lorius, C., Raynaud, D. (1983). Record of Past Atmospheric CO2 from Tree-Ring and Ice Core Studies. In: Bach, W., Crane, A.J., Berger, A.L., Longhetto, A. (eds) Carbon Dioxide. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6998-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6998-8_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-7000-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6998-8

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