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Carbon dioxide

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Why there’s more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere than you may have realised

This week brought news that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels at the Mauna Loa atmospheric observatory in Hawaii have risen steeply for the seventh year in a row, reaching a May 2019 average of 414.7 parts per million (ppm). But in truth, the amount of greenhouse gas in our atmosphere is higher still.

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How is atmospheric CO2 measured in the Southern Hemisphere?

By Paul Fraser, Stream Leader, Changing Atmosphere. Last week the greenhouse gas monitoring site at Mauna Loa in Hawaii recorded daily levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide that approached the 400 parts per million molar (ppm) benchmark. Annual mean Southern Hemispheric levels of carbon dioxide, as recorded at the Cape Grim Air Baseline Air Pollution Monitoring Station in north-west Tasmania,...

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Carbon, chocolate and 3D printing

By Sherrie Wilson Our scientists in Western Australia are busy developing technology that could significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. One of the exciting technologies being explored is carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, compressing it, piping it to a suitable site,...

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Crystal discovery leads to Tall Poppy win

Our mathematician, Dr Aaron Thornton, was named a 2012 Victorian Young Tall Poppy last night, awarded for his research into carbon dioxide and molecular gas. Aaron recently discovered exciting, new crystals called zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) that can capture and remove carbon dioxide from air and water. Aaron and his team are developing materials with...

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A new life for empty gas reservoirs

Exhausted gas reservoirs could provide the solution to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers working on the CO2CRC Otway Project in Victoria have shown that depleted gas fields can be used to store significant amounts of our carbon dioxide emissions. Since 2008, over 65,000 tonnes of CO2 rich gas has been injected, stored and monitored two...

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