{"id":425008,"date":"2026-02-07T11:45:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425008"},"modified":"2026-02-07T11:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:45:37","slug":"new-study-rebuts-the-assumption-that-anthropogenic-co2-molecules-have-special-properties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425008","title":{"rendered":"New Study Rebuts the Assumption That Anthropogenic CO2 Molecules Have \u2018Special\u2019 Properties"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Diagram<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The residence time of CO2 in the atmosphere refers to the average duration a CO2 molecule remains in the atmosphere before being removed through natural processes like absorption by oceans, plants, or soils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is distinct from the adjustment time (also called perturbation lifetime or e-folding time), which measures how long it takes for the atmospheric CO2 concentration to return to equilibrium after a perturbation, such as added emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carbon cycle describes how carbon moves between reservoirs: atmosphere, oceans, land biosphere, soils, and fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Illustration<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From No Trick Zone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Kenneth Richard<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has for decades advocated net-zero governmental policies to reduce anthropogenic CO2 (aCO2) emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This advocacy is rooted in the non-physical assumption that aCO2 molecules are special, as they remain in the atmosphere for decades to centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proponents of the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) narrative even claim aCO2 removal can \u201ctake up to several hundreds of thousands of years<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While AGW proponents insist that \u201conce in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide can continue to affect climate for thousands of years<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d they (and the IPCC) simultaneously acknowledge the residence time of \u201cnatural\u201d or non-anthropogenic CO2 is only about 4 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, a\u00a0new study<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0references the Equivalence Principle in emphasizing nature\u2019s sinks indiscriminately and equivalently absorb\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0aCO2 and natural CO2 in about 4 years (M\u00fcller, 2025<\/a><\/strong>). There is no physical reality for IPCC claims of \u201cspecialized\u201d absorption time for a CO2 vs. natural CO2 molecules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IPCC assumes exactly 50% of aCO2 emissions remain in the atmosphere for decades to millennia. It is consequently assumed net-zero policies that propose to halve aCO2 emission will lead to the stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Because \u201canthropogenic CO2 has the same [4-year] residence time of natural CO2,\u201d this assumption is physically invalid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net-zero policies will literally have no detectable effect on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. In sum, \u201cthe IPCC\u2019s assumptions and fundamentals are wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Image Source:\u00a0M\u00fcller, 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"Infographic<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The residence time of CO2 in the atmosphere refers to the average duration a CO2 molecule remains in the atmosphere before being removed through natural processes like absorption by oceans, plants, or soils. This is distinct from the adjustment time (also called perturbation lifetime or e-folding time), which measures how long it takes for the atmospheric CO2 concentration to return to equilibrium after a perturbation, such as added emissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":425019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvY2xpbWF0ZS1zY2llbmNlLnByZXNzXC93cC1jb250ZW50XC91cGxvYWRzXC8yMDI2XC8wMlwvMC1Pbi10aGUtUmVzaWRlbmNlLVRpbWUtb2YtQ08yLTItNjg3eDEwMjQuanBnIiwidHh0IjoiTmV3IFN0dWR5IFJlYnV0cyB0aGUgQXNzdW1wdGlvbiBUaGF0IEFudGhyb3BvZ2VuaWMgQ08yIE1vbGVjdWxlcyBIYXZlIFx1MjAxOFNwZWNpYWxcdTIwMTkgUHJvcGVydGllcyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNTU4MTI0NDl9.BTkffzVvOyrTq2UIi8HnRkebK39G1zqPYgDNFhaM0XwMQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691841238,691821853,691829997,691841237,691820922,691818154],"class_list":["post-425008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anthropogenic-co2-aco2","tag-anthropogenic-global-warming-agw","tag-carbon-dioxide-co","tag-equivalence-principle","tag-intergovernmental-panel-on-climate-change-ipcc","tag-net-zero","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0-On-the-Residence-Time-of-CO2-2.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1MyY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":341202,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341202","url_meta":{"origin":425008,"position":0},"title":"New Study: CO2\u2019s Atmospheric Residence Time 4 Years\u2026Natural Sources Drive CO2 Concentration Changes","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/31\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cClearly, the atmospheric CO2 observation data are not consistent with the climate narrative. Rather, they contradict it.\u201d\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0Koutsoyiannis, 2024","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO2)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO2)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0OSC_Microbio_08_07_CCycle.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0OSC_Microbio_08_07_CCycle.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0OSC_Microbio_08_07_CCycle.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0OSC_Microbio_08_07_CCycle.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, 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