<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/09/carbon-dioxide-atmosphere-record>
"The largest ever recorded leap in the amount of carbon dioxide laden in the
world’s atmosphere has just occurred, according to researchers who monitor the
relentless accumulation of the primary gas that is heating the planet.
The global average concentration of carbon dioxide in March this year was 4.7
parts per million (or ppm) higher than it it was in March last year, which is a
record-breaking increase in CO₂ levels over a 12-month period.
The increase has been spurred, scientists say, by the periodic El Niño climate
event, which has now waned, as well as the ongoing and increasing amounts of
greenhouse gases expelled into the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil
fuels and deforestation.
“It’s really significant to see the pace of the increase over the first four
months of this year, which is also a record,” said Ralph Keeling, director of
the CO₂ Program at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “We
aren’t just breaking records in CO₂ concentrations, but also the record in how
fast it is rising.”
The global CO₂ readings have been taken from a station perched upon the Mauna
Loa volcano in Hawaii since the measurements began in 1958 under Keeling’s
father, Charles. The concentrations of CO₂ have increased each year since, as
the heat-trapping gas continues to progressively accumulate due to rampant
emissions from power plants, cars, trucks and other sources, with last year
hitting a new global record in annual emissions.
In June, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that
global concentration of CO₂ had hit 421ppm, a 50% increase on pre-industrial
times and the highest in millions of years. The latest reading from Mauna Loa
shows the world at around 426ppm of CO₂.
Before the point where humans starting expelling huge volumes of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, CO₂ levels were around
280ppm for almost 6,000 years of human civilization.
The rapid rise in the heat-trapping gas threatens the world with disastrous
climate breakdown in the form of severe heatwaves, floods, droughts and
wildfires. Recent research has suggested that CO₂ levels were last this high
around 14m years ago, causing a climate that would appear alien to people alive
today."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
