Charles David Keeling was an American scientist whose recording of carbon dioxide at the Mauna Loa Observatory confirmed Svante Arrhenius's proposition of the possibility of anthropogenic contribution to the greenhouse effect and global warming, by documenting the steadily rising carbon dioxide levels.
19 Facts About Charles Keeling
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Charles Keeling graduated with a degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1948.
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Charles Keeling earned a PhD in chemistry from Northwestern University in 1953 under Malcolm Dole, a polymer chemist.
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Charles Keeling was a postdoctoral fellow in geochemistry there until he joined Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1956, and was appointed professor of oceanography there in 1968.
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Charles Keeling camped at Big Sur where he used his new device to measure the level of carbon dioxide and found that it had risen since the 19th century.
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Charles Keeling worked at the Scripps Institution for 43 years during which time he published many influential papers.
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Roger Revelle, the Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, based at La Jolla, California, persuaded Charles Keeling to continue his work there.
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Charles Keeling started collecting carbon dioxide samples at the base in 1958.
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In 1961, Charles Keeling produced data showing that carbon dioxide levels were rising steadily in what later became known as the "Charles Keeling Curve".
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The data collection started by Charles Keeling and continued at Mauna Loa is the longest continuous record of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the world and is considered a reliable indicator of the global trend in the mid-level troposphere.
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Charles Keeling's research showed that the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide grew from 315 parts per million in 1958 to 380 in 2005, with increases correlated to fossil fuel emissions.
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Charles Keeling was an enthusiastic outdoorsman who made many hiking and camping trips to the Western mountains, particularly the Cascade Mountains of Washington state.
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Charles Keeling was an active member of the Wilderness Society for much of his life.
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Charles Keeling was an accomplished classical pianist who almost chose a career in music.
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Charles Keeling was a founding director of the University of California San Diego Madrigal Singers.
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Charles Keeling was general chairman of the citizens committee which drafted the Del Mar General Plan in 1975.
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Charles Keeling was a Guggenheim fellow at the Meteorological Institute, University of Stockholm ; a guest professor at the Second Physical Institute of the University of Heidelberg and the Physical Institute of the University of Bern.
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Charles Keeling was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Charles Keeling was a member of the commission on global pollution of the International Association of Meteorology, and scientific director of the Central CO2 Calibration Laboratory of the World Meteorological Organization.