From Washington, D.C., at the spring meeting of the American Geophysical Union
“Carbon is one of the great atoms of the periodic table,” says D. James Baker, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for carbon atoms.”
Baker pointed to carbon’s versatility and its significance in potential climate change as he announced on June 1 the implementation of the Carbon Cycle Science Initiative. It aims to coordinate funding and research to determine how the element cycles through the land, water, and atmosphere. It will also boost the number, accuracy, and distribution of carbon-measuring stations.