An atmospheric research station in Hawaii recorded its highest concentrations of carbon dioxide since accurate measurements began 63 years ago, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Monday, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic had barely impacted rising levels of the greenhouse gas.
The Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory’s measurements for last month averaged 419 parts per million (ppm), up from 417ppm in May last year, the NOAA said.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego was also involved in the research.
Photo: AFP
“We are adding roughly 40 billion metric tonnes of CO2 pollution to the atmosphere per year,” said Pieter Tans, a senior scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory.
“That is a mountain of carbon that we dig up out of the Earth, burn, and release into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide — year after year. If we want to avoid catastrophic climate change, the highest priority must be to reduce CO2 pollution to zero at the earliest possible date,” he said.
Last month’s increase of 1.8ppm was slightly less than previous years. However, over the first five months of this year, the average increase was 2.3 ppm, close to the annual rises seen from 2010 to 2019.
Although emissions dropped by 17 percent at the peak of shutdowns last year, that reduction was not large enough to stand out from seasonal variations caused by the way plants and soil respond to temperature, humidity and soil moisture.
“These natural variations are large, and so far the ‘missing’ emissions from fossil fuel burning have not stood out,” NOAA said in an explanatory statement.
The Mauna Loa observatory is considered a benchmark sampling site because of its isolated location, far from pollution sources, on a barren volcano in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Historical observations have shown the highest monthly carbon dioxide values occur in May, just before plants start extracting large amounts during the growing season.
In the northern fall, winter and early spring, plants and soils give off carbon dioxide, with levels peaking through May.
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