Ludicrous headline introduces laughable story

And it's alllllllllllll (beat) in the Post! Actually it's in the Gamera, but the Post reprinted it and I wanted to get that old jingle in. Headline: "Boulder scientists: Earth observing more carbon each decade." There's a whole lot of stupid here, but this is the best graf:

While carbon sinks are absorbing an increasing amount of carbon, the amount of carbon left in the atmosphere is also increasing. The atmospheric concentration of carbon in the atmosphere is rapidly approaching 400 parts per million, [lead author Ashley] Ballantyne said, compared to a pre-industrial concentration of about 280 parts per million.

Of carbon. In the atmosphere. Question: Who' s doing the conflating of carbon and carbon dioxide here, science-y sort Ashley Ballantyne or reportress Laura Snider? If it's Ballantyne, we don't need to ask, but if it's Snider, we probably do: is the conflation deliberate or just ignorant?

Oh, the study appears in Nature. Too sad for snark.

Update: Of course, A. Watts had it a while ago, and reprinted the whole CU press release, in which the authors use "carbon" and "CO2" and "carbon dioxide" interchangeably. They also appear to be fully paid-up warmists. Can't wait to read the comments.