How do you capture an air snapshot? All you need is a couple of glass flasks wrapped in tape and with the air vacuumed out, as Ashley Braun pens in their latest story. This ingenious design was established in the 1950s and has played a key role in monitoring the world’s carbon dioxide levels. Prior to its inception, there was no standardized method of capturing a consistent measurement, so results varied widely. Carbon dioxide cycles through the air, water, and plants on Earth, making gathering such data trickier but necessary for us to learn about its effects. Find out more about the method’s history and results in Ashley Braun’s piece.
Photo: Srini297 via Wikimedia Commons
