Question

Scientists are interested in the rate of change, in other words, how fast the carbon dioxide (ppm) is increasing as the years go by. In 1971, the globally averaged CO2 concentration was approximately 330 ppm. If the CO2 concentration in 2000 was about 384 ppm, calculate the average rate of increase per year.

A) 2 ppm/year
B) 4 ppm/year
C) 5 ppm/year
D) 8 ppm/year

Answer 1

To find the average rate of increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration from 1971 to 2000, you subtract the earlier measurement from the later one and divide by the number of years in between. The rate calculates to approximately 2 ppm/year.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the average rate of increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration per year, we subtract the initial value from the final value and then divide by the number of years that have passed. The initial CO2 concentration in 1971 was approximately 330 ppm and increased to approximately 384 ppm by the year 2000.

The formula to calculate the average rate of increase is as follows:

Average rate of increase = (Final concentration - Initial concentration) / Number of years

Using this formula:

Average rate of increase = (384 ppm - 330 ppm) / (2000 - 1971) = 54 ppm / 29 years = 1.862 ppm per year, which we round to 2 ppm per year.

So the correct answer to the question is A) 2 ppm/year.