Carbon dioxide levels soar to milestone level
11 May USA Today
For the first time in recorded human history, levels of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere have surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm),
according to data released Friday morning from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from the Mauna Loa Observatory in
Hawaii.
The average level of carbon dioxide over the past five days is 400.03
ppm. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the greenhouse gas that is responsible for
63% of the warming attributable to all greenhouse gases, according to
NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.Increasing
amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases caused by the burning of the
oil, gas and coal that power our world are enhancing the natural
“greenhouse effect,” causing the planet to warm to levels that climate
scientists say can't be linked to natural forces.
Carbon dioxide levels were around 280 ppm prior to the Industrial
Revolution, when we first began releasing large amounts into the
atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels.Carbon dioxide levels
were closer to 200 during the Ice Age. There are natural ups and downs
of this greenhouse gas, which comes from volcanoes and decomposing
plants and animals. But that's not what has driven current levels so
high, said NOAA senior scientist Pieter Tans of the Earth System
Research Lab.
He said the amount should be even higher, but the world's oceans are
absorbing quite a bit, keeping it out of the air“That increase is not a
surprise to scientists,” Tans said. “The evidence is conclusive that the
strong growth of global CO2 emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and
natural gas is driving the acceleration.
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