Effective CO_2 lifetime and future CO_2 levels based on fit function

摘要

The estimated global CO_2 emission rates and the measured atmospheric CO_2 concentrations show that only a certain share of the emitted CO_2 accumulates in the atmosphere. For given atmospheric emissions of CO_2, the effective lifetime determines its accumulation in the atmosphere and, consequently, its impact on the future global warming. We found that on average the inferred effective lifetime of CO_2 decreases as its atmospheric concentration increases, reducing the rate of its accumulation in the atmosphere. We derived a power function that fits the varying lifetimes. Based on this fitting function, we calculated the increase of CO_2 for different scenarios of future global emission rates.