The Mauna Loa Record

Plate 95 speaks for itself: “And the planet still breathes.”

The Physics

Since 1958 Mauna Loa has measured carbon dioxide in the air. The record climbs year on year, with a seasonal zigzag as northern plants take up and release CO₂.

315.98 → 427.35 ppm

• ppm: parts per million, mole fraction in dry air

NOAA annual means: 315.98 ppm (1959). 427.35 ppm (2025, preliminary).

Honest caveat: The 2025 annual mean is NOAA's preliminary value, ±0.12 ppm, and may be revised.

Sources

• NOAA GML, Mauna Loa annual mean CO₂, gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends (co2_annmean_mlo.txt).
• C. D. Keeling, Tellus 12, 200 (1960).

On the poster

Plate 095, “The Mauna Loa Record”: the pixel-art plate with its slogan “And the planet still breathes.”, the key equation and the facts panel shown above. Pixelated Physics. Physics. Personified.