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Radiocarbon useful for estimating emissions from fossil fuels

2020-06-02T14:08:33.056Z


(HANDLE)Carbon-14, the radioactive form of carbon, can be used to recognize traces of fossil fuels in the atmosphere. This is what emerges from the study published in the journal of the American Academy of Sciences (Pnas) and coordinated by Sourish Basu del Noaa, the American Federal Agency for the Study of the Oceans and the Atmosphere, together with colleagues from the American University of Colorado . ...


Carbon-14, the radioactive form of carbon, can be used to recognize traces of fossil fuels in the atmosphere. This is what emerges from the study published in the journal of the American Academy of Sciences (Pnas) and coordinated by Sourish Basu del Noaa, the American Federal Agency for the Study of the Oceans and the Atmosphere, together with colleagues from the American University of Colorado .

In this study, carbon-14, usually used for dating archaeological finds, is instead used to make an estimate of fossil fuel emissions in the United States. The study is based on computer models and on the analysis of atmospheric samples collected by Noaa.

It uses measurements of the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and of the distribution of carbon-14, "to expose the contribution of CO2 due to fossil fuels and the production of cement", explain the authors of the research. "Carbon-14 - the experts explain - has, in fact, an average life of about 5,700 years.

So, given that the carbon of fossil fuels has been buried for millions of years, it is completely free of radioactive carbon-14, "say the researchers. This aspect makes it an excellent indicator for assessing the distribution of atmospheric CO2 linked to fossil fuels, compared to that produced by other sources.

Source: ansa

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