The Politics of Dissent - Behind the Curve - page 115

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the politiCs oF dissent
the annual oscillations of the keeling curve caPture one of
the more dramatic cycles of decay and renewal on earth. The curve is like
a negative image of the earth's plant life. At the annual peak of global
atmospheric CO 2 , typically in May, the deciduous plants of the Northern
Hemisphere have only just begun to bud, stirred by warmth and sunlight
from a long winter dormancy. And then, almost suddenly, they explode
into summer growth. CO 2 hovers at its peak until early June, and then it
plummets steeply through the annual mean and into its late October or
early November trough, when the Northern Hemisphere's growing season
finally ends, and the expunged leaves and stems begin to return their CO 2
to the atmosphere.
The cycles of history rarely unfold so regularly, but in 1980 the fortunes
of scientists interested in CO 2 nearly matched the cycles of CO 2 itself. In
May of 1980, atmospheric CO 2 stood at around 341.5 ppm; and a year after
the first DOE-AAAS conference, its concentration had become an impor-
tant concern for the Department of Energy. By November, however, CO 2
bottomed out at 335 ppm, and the American public had elected a president
for whom neither CO 2 nor other, more mainstream environmental causes
held much appeal. While CO 2 itself would rebound the following spring,
the fortunes of those studying the substance would rebound much more
slowly. When climate scientists' situation did finally improve, they found
that they had tied their fate to that of America's environmentalists and to
the Democratic Party like never before.