Record-breaking rise in atmospheric CO2 levels worldwide

Record-breaking rise in atmospheric CO2 levels worldwide

Researchers that track the steady build-up of the major gas responsible for warming the globe say that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has recently experienced the biggest jump ever measured.

This year’s March worldwide average carbon dioxide concentration was 4.7 parts per million, or ppm, greater than that of March last year, marking a record rise in CO2 levels over a 12-month period.
Scientists attribute the spike to the continuous and growing volumes of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels and deforestation, as well as the periodic El Niño climate event, which has since subsided.

The rate of growth over the first four months of this year is unprecedented, and that is highly significant, according to Ralph Keeling, director of the CO2 Program at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. “Not only are CO2 concentrations breaking records, but they are rising at a record-breaking rate as well.”

Since the observations started in 1958 under Keeling’s father, Charles, they have been taken from a station atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, providing data on worldwide CO2 levels. Since then, the concentrations of CO2 have risen annually as the gas that traps heat continues to build up as a result of widespread emissions from vehicles, trucks, power plants, and other sources. Last year’s emissions set a new worldwide record for annual emissions.

The global CO2 concentration reached 421 ppm in June, the greatest level in millions of years and a 50% rise over pre-industrial periods, according to a June announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At 426 parts per million of CO2, according to the most recent reading from Mauna Loa.

Before the burning of fossil fuels caused people to release massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, CO2 levels were approximately 280 parts per million throughout over 6,000 years of human civilization.

A catastrophic breakdown of the climate, shown in extreme heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires, is the threat posed by the rapid increase in the heat-trapping gas. According to recent studies, CO2 levels were last this high about 14 million years ago, resulting in an environment that would seem foreign to those living now.

The last time CO2 rose to an all-time high was in 2016, during another El Niño event that momentarily raised global temperatures. After this most recent El Niño ends, a more normal annual increase of about 2-3 ppm will probably return, but Keeling says there’s little reason to be optimistic.

“The rate of rise will almost certainly slow down, but it is still rising, and the CO2 level must be falling in order to stabilize the climate,” he stated. It is obvious that it is not taking place. CO2 levels have soared due to human activity. It is the thing that saddens me the most. What we are doing is depressing.

Researchers that track the steady build-up of the major gas responsible for warming the globe say that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has recently experienced the biggest jump ever measured.

Researchers that track the steady build-up of the major gas responsible for warming the globe say that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has recently experienced the biggest jump ever measured.

Researchers that track the steady build-up of the major gas responsible for warming the globe say that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has recently experienced the biggest jump ever measured.

read also : Researchers find out why the “sister planet” of Earth lost all of its water.

Record-breaking increase in CO2 levels in world’s atmosphere (msn.com)