Papers of Charles David Keeling (1928-2005), an environmental chemist, founder of the Scripps CO₂ Program, and professor emeritus at UC San Diego. Dr. Keeling was considered the world's leading authority on atmospheric greenhouse gases and climate science. The collection includes correspondence, writings and reports, teaching and lecture materials, and documentation and data from the Scripps CO₂ Program.
Charles David Keeling Papers, 1934-2006 (bulk 1955-2000) (SMC 99)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Restrictions: Three subseries in the collection are restricted until five years after passing of
Louise Keeling, by request of the Keeling family: subseries 1B (Biographical - Restricted),
subseries 2D (Family Correspondence - Restricted), and subseries 9C (Del Mar - Restricted).
Interim access may be granted with permission of Ralph Keeling at Scripps.
Restrictions: Original media formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for
researchers.
Extent: 117.6 Linear feet (218 archives boxes, 2 card file boxes, 28 records cartons, 2 flat boxes, and 4 map case folders), + 1 GB of digital files
Digital Content
36 photographic images of Keeling are available online. They can be found by searching the term "SMC 99" on the UC San Diego Digital Collections website. Additional digital family photographs and images from Keeling's memorial service at SIO are not on the Digital Collections website, but may be made available to researchers upon request. Please request these materials through the finding aid.
Charles David Keeling (1928-2005) was born on April 20, 1928 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 1948, and completed his doctorate in Chemistry at Northwestern University under the supervision of Malcom Dole in 1954. After earning his PhD, Keeling accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in Geochemistry at California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
At Caltech, Keeling developed an accurate system for measuring the carbon dioxide concentration in the air, and he began taking air and water samples at remote locations in California and the Pacific Northwest. In 1956 Keeling was introduced to Harry Wexler, director of the U.S. Weather Bureau's Division of Meteorological Research, through a colleague at Caltech. Impressed by his methods, Wexler offered Keeling the job of leading the Weather Bureau's proposed CO₂ Program, to be undertaken during the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY). Wexler's offer also included an invitation to begin sampling at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, built by the Weather Bureau in 1955. Meanwhile, Dr. Norris Rakestraw, who had collected air samples for Keeling, brought Keeling's data to the attention of Dr. Roger Revelle, Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). Shortly after, Keeling received an offer from Revelle to conduct his Weather Bureau research at Scripps.
Keeling moved to La Jolla in August of 1956, with the IGY CO₂ Program scheduled to begin the following July. At the conclusion of the IGY, Keeling's CO₂ Program was extended with funding support from the NSF, which continued uninterrupted until budget cuts in 1964 (it was resumed shortly thereafter due to Keeling's persistent efforts). In 1966 Keeling became an SIO faculty member, and in 1968 he earned the title of professor of oceanography. In the 1960s and 1970s, the CO₂ Program extended sampling to remote locations all over the world, including stations in New Zealand, the Canadian Arctic, and several Pacific islands. During the later period of this expansion, program officers at the NSF and NOAA coordinated an effort to transfer full responsibility for global CO2 observations to NOAA, a threat that Keeling robustly resisted. In the early 1980s, the Department of Energy stepped in to stabilize Keeling's research program, and ultimately, the Scripps CO₂ Program evolved to coexist with a larger, parallel data collection program at NOAA.
Keeling was affiliated with SIO from the founding of the CO₂ Program in 1956 until his death in 2005. He published nearly 100 research articles on atmospheric chemistry and the carbon cycle, and wrote or contributed to innumerable reports on his data findings and related implications. Keeling's Mauna Loa Observatory measurements produced a data set now known widely as the "Keeling Curve," which graphically illustrates the impact of CO₂ concentrations in the air from fossil fuel combustion. His groundbreaking research and development of a continuous and precise record of Earth's atmospheric CO₂ concentrations earned him renown as the world's leading specialist in climate science. Keeling received many awards of recognition during his extensive career, including the National Medal of Science in 2002 and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2005.
Charles David Keeling passed away on June 20, 2005 at his estate in Hamilton, Montana. Leadership of the Scripps CO₂ Program was resumed and continued by his son, Dr. Ralph Keeling.
For more information on Keeling's professional activities and awards received, please see: http://scrippsCO2.ucsd.edu/history_legacy/charles_david_keeling_biography.
Papers of Charles David Keeling (1928-2005), an environmental chemist, founder of the Scripps CO₂ Program, and professor emeritus at UC San Diego. Dr. Keeling was considered the world's leading authority on atmospheric greenhouse gases and climate science. The collection documents decades of Keeling's meticulous measurement of atmospheric CO₂ at land-based stations and on shipboard expeditions, his founding of and continuous leadership for the Scripps CO₂ Program, and his research.
The papers are arranged in two parts, both of which have several series. The first part consists of Keeling's personal and professional papers, including a small amount of biographical material, and significant correspondence, scientific writings, research, lectures, and meeting and event files. It also includes a small amount of family correspondence and materials relating to Keeling's activism in Del Mar local government and city planning. The second part consists of papers documenting the Scripps CO₂ Program, including funding, records from the major data-collecting stations, gas analysis and calibration files, and Keeling's comparative research drawn from the Scripps data (consisting largely of plots, figures, and graphs). These records document the evolution of the Scripps CO₂ Program from its founding in 1956 through the establishment of various field stations worldwide. Though the two sections of the collection are distinct, Keeling's life-long major research focus of atmospheric carbon dioxide measurement and analysis runs throughout both parts, and so there is topical overlap between them. Many of Keeling's writings, lectures, and research notebooks found in the first part of the collection are naturally related to carbon dioxide research and draw on data represented in the second part of the collection.
Personal and Professional Papers are arranged in nine series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS AND RESEARCH, 4) LECTURES, TALKS, AND PRESENTATIONS, 5) MEETINGS, CONFERENCE, AND EVENT FILES, 6) TEACHING MATERIALS, 7) UC SAN DIEGO, 8) WORKS BY OTHERS, and 9) CITY OF DEL MAR.
Scripps CO₂ Program Records are arranged in seven series: 10) CONTRACTS AND GRANTS, 11) ANTARCTICA, 12) SHIPBOARD, 13) MAUNA LOA, 14) NEW ZEALAND, 15) MISCELLANEOUS PROJECT FILES AND OTHER FIELD STATIONS, and 16) GAS ANALYSIS.
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