Scientists in the US have detected the highest levels of planet-
warming carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere since records began, sounding new alarm over the relentless rise of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which has tracked atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since the late 1950s, on Saturday morning detected 415.26 parts per million (ppm).
It was also the first time on record that the observatory measured a daily baseline above 415ppm.
The last time Earth’s atmosphere contained this much carbon dioxide was more than 3 million years ago, when global sea levels were several meters higher and parts of Antarctica were blanketed in forest.
“It shows that we are not on track with protecting the climate at all. The number keeps rising and it’s getting higher year after year,” said Wolfgang Lucht, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). “This number needs to stabilize.”
However, far from stabilizing, levels of carbon dioxide — one of a trinity of greenhouse gases produced when fossil fuels are burnt — are climbing ever more rapidly.
Ralph Keeling, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s CO2 Program, said the trend would probably continue throughout this year — likely to be an El Nino year in which temperatures rise due to warmer ocean currents.
“The average growth rate is remaining on the high end. The increase from last year will probably be around 3 parts per million, whereas the recent average has been 2.5 ppm,” he said. “Likely we’re seeing the effect of mild El Nino conditions on top of ongoing fossil fuel use.”
The 2015 Paris Agreement calls on humanity to block the rise in Earth’s temperature at “well below” 2°C compared with preindustrial levels, and 1.5°C if possible.
The past four years were the four hottest on record and, in spite of the Paris deal and increasing public awareness of the problem, humankind continues to break its own emissions records, year on year.
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