Read the full article at The Conversation

• The greenhouse effect and the link between CO₂ and climate change were discovered over a century ago, but human impact was definitively detected in the 1950s.
• In 1956, the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii was established as an ideal site for atmospheric CO₂ measurement due to its remote, high-altitude location.
• Data from Mauna Loa, starting in 1958, produced the famous “Keeling curve,” which clearly showed a relentless year-on-year increase in atmospheric CO₂ levels, alongside a natural annual cycle.
• Isotopic measurements from Mauna Loa confirmed that the rising CO₂ was primarily from human activities, largely fossil fuel burning.
• Current CO₂ levels (over 420 ppm) are higher than they’ve been in at least three million years, and the rate of increase is unprecedented in the last 50 million years.
• The article warns that the US President Donald Trump plans to defund the Mauna Loa observatory and other US greenhouse gas monitoring networks, posing a significant threat to climate science.
• Continuous, high-precision monitoring is crucial to track how the planet warms, verify the effectiveness of climate policies, and forecast extreme weather events.
• Losing Mauna Loa would be a huge blow, making other observatories like Australia’s Kennaook/Cape Grim even more vital.
• The author likens stopping climate data collection to “breaking a thermometer because you don’t like knowing you’ve got a fever.”
• The article suggests that other countries, like Australia, may need to expand their climate monitoring systems if the US retreats from its commitments.