Jodi Peterson

Associate Editor

Scientists have a new tool for tracking carbon dioxide, reports the Rocky Mountain News. The CarbonTracker project, developed by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colo., uses monitoring stations to determine where the greenhouse gas is being emitted and where it’s being absorbed (for example, by oceans). So far only about 60 such stations exist around the globe, but more are on the way:

(Pieter Tans, a NOAA carbon researcher) is encouraging state governments and universities to join the network. Ideally, the number of measuring sites will grow into the hundreds, perhaps the thousands, he said. A bigger network would deliver a more detailed picture of carbon dioxide’s behavior - like using a microscope with a more powerful lens. Researchers then might be able to compare emissions produced by two large cities, such as Denver and Phoenix.

The CarbonTracker Web site is seriously wonky, but check out pages like the CO2 Time Series, which let you see greenhouse gas levels at various sites around the world.