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Comment by 6d6b73 | Hacker News Reader

Lol. Im sure $150 co2 sensor will be able to detect co2 concentration in the atmosphere of our planet.

Climat is a very delicate system. Once we remove too much there might not be enough time to reverse this.

In general yes - Outside my co2 sensor shows an accurate enough current planetary co2 level. Watching it is frightening.

So you're looking at the display and instantly you know what the value was last year, and how the seasonal variability affect whatever you see on the display?

Whatever you're reading on your co2 sensor, thermometer, or any other sensor device RIGHT NOW is only indication of what's happening right now, in your location. That's not a global trend, not even a local trend. And having the sensor installed in incorrect place can mean that the data is worth less.

Yes, “lol”, it will. In fact you don't even need to spend US$150. Your ignorance is not a good reason to sneer at people who are doing you the favor of sharing their knowledge with you.

Well, the problem with most of these off the shelf , indoor sensors, is that they are calibrated to current reading of about 400ppm, that's their base. To correctly measure CO2 you will need something that does not depend on that value to self-calibrate. What's more, some of them can have +/- 20ppm or worse accuracy. If the average annual ppm increase is 2ppm you can't reliably see the increase on your home device. To do that you need to have something that's NIST calibrated, with correct accuracy, set in a right place, and gather the data for longer period of time. You will need to smooth the data, and know how to interpret it.

Source: I develop software for data acquisition systems

Thank you!

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