Broomfield – Hundreds of scientists from around the world will gather this week to discuss the atmosphere’s growing accumulation of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by events ranging from plant decomposition to coal-burning power plants.
“You’re going to see some of the best researchers and thinkers in this area coming together,” University of Colorado professor James White said of the International Carbon Dioxide Conference that runs through Friday.
The conference has been held every four years since 1981, when about 40 scientists attended. This year, about 400 are expected in Broomfield.
It is the first time the conference has been held in the United States, and it comes at a time of growing public awareness about carbon dioxide, said Britton Stephens, a scientist at the Boulder-based National Center for Atmospheric Research.
“It’s stuff the scientists have realized for a while, but it’s starting to grab everyone’s attention that things are changing,” said Stephens, who studies mountain forests’ absorption of carbon dioxide.
