Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is measured regularly at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii. The mean annual concentration in parts per million in various years is given in the table.*
Year | Concentration (ppm) |
1984 | 344.4 |
1989 | 352.9 |
1994 | 358.9 |
1999 | 368.3 |
2004 | 377.4 |
(a) Let x = 0 correspond to 1980. List the five data points given by the table. Do these points all lie on a single line? How can you tell?
(b) Use the data points from 1984 and 2004 to write a linear equation to model CO2 concentration over time.
(c) Do part (b), using the data points from 1994 and 2004.
(d) Use the two models to estimate the CO2 concentration in 1989 and 1999. Do the models overestimate or underestimate the concentration?
(e) What do the two models say about the concentration in 2008? Which model do you think is the more accurate? Why?
*C. D. Keeling and T. P. Whorf, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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