First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics
Cross Correlate Temp, CO2 and CH4
Notes:
This plot overlays the correlation of temperature to future CO2 levels, temperature to future CH4 levels and the correlation between CO2 levels and future CH4 levels. While there's an apparent causality between CH4 levels and prior CO2 levels, it doesn't necessarily imply that CH4 is dependent on CO2 and it could just be an artifact of a dependence of CH4 on prior temperatures. However, the delay between temperature changes and CH4 changes is far too large to be explained by the physics alone.
If future CH4 levels are considered dependent on past CO2 levels, the relationship between temperature, CO2 and CH4 can be readily explained as the evolutionary response of a biosphere to changes in temperature and resulting changes in ecosystem distributions.