Carbon dating hampered by rising fossil-fuel emissions

Science. Carbon-dating techniques rely on the fact that there are several isotopes of carbon in the air. Stable carbon-12 is the most common but there is also a small amount of radioactive carbon-14, in a proportion that varies naturally over time.The researchers who track the ever-rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have charted a landmark moment: as of 2021, the burning of fossil fuels has officially shifted the composition of carbon isotopes in the air. This could cause problems for valuable carbon-dating techniques. The trend “could soon make it difficult to tell if something is 1,000 years old or modern”, says one radiocarbon-dating specialist. Researchers have long known that the end of this technique was coming, but increasing CO2 emissions have accelerated the process and in the coming decades the carbon-14 value will no longer be diagnostic of a date. Click to read more about this scientific topic, article from Nature, including 3 academic references. And here you can read another interesting post, about the intriguing carbon signatures on Mars as measured by NASA's Curiosity rover.