• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20 March 20, 2023
Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action March 20, 2023
Window for 1.5°C ‘Rapidly Closing’, IPCC Warns March 20, 2023
Swift Action, Inclusive Resilience Vital in Face of Overlapping Climate Hazards March 20, 2023
Shift from Fossils to Renewables is Quickest, Cheapest Path to Cut Emissions, IPCC Report Shows March 20, 2023
Next
Prev

Atmospheric Carbon Hits 410 ppm, Shows ‘Unprecedented Increase’ Over Five Years

April 23, 2017
Reading time: 2 minutes

Ian Britton/Freefoto

Ian Britton/Freefoto

 

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels hit 410 parts per million (ppm) last week for the first time in recorded history, a level the planet has not seen in three million years, according to measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

“Since measurements began in the 1950s at Mauna Loa, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased 42% increase from pre-industrial levels,” ThinkProgress reports. “Children born today will likely never live in a world with levels below 400 parts per million,” since the carbon dioxide now in the atmosphere will persist for decades.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

The last time atmospheric CO2 reached this threshold, in the mid-Pliocene, “global average temperature was about 3.6 to 5.2°F (2.0 to 3.0°C) warmer than it is today,” writes correspondent Natasha Geiling. “Sea levels were also higher, by about 15 to 25 metres.”

Geiling notes that the Mauna Loa facility, jointly funded by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, may be vulnerable to budget cuts at the hands of the Trump administration. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney considers climate spending “to be a waste of your money.”

On the National Observer, climate analyst and writer Barry Saxifrage notes that the increase in atmospheric CO2 continues to accelerate, according to a NOAA release last month. The agency pointed to an “unprecedented” increase over the last two years, cited 2016 as “a record fifth consecutive year that carbon dioxide (CO2) rose by 2 ppm or greater”, and noted that those five years showed an average 2.5 ppm annual increase for the first time. That’s despite International Energy Agency reports indicating that fossil CO2 emissions have plateaued, notwithstanding continuing economic growth.

Saxifrage points to four possible disconnects between the IEA data and the realities in the NOAA report: The conclusion that emissions have plateaued may be based on inadequate verification of inaccurate national data, emissions may be rising in other areas of human activity, climate change itself might be driving up emissions, and the oceans and biosphere might be absorbing less CO2.

Whatever the cause, the NOAA report “is just the latest to show that the path to a safe climate future requires rapid reductions in how much CO2 we pull out of the ground each year,” Saxifrage writes. “Canada, however, is planning to do the very opposite.” The country’s CO2 emissions have increased 50% since 1990, and its oil and gas emissions have doubled. And he cites Oil Change International’s conclusion that, “over the next 20 years, the industry is set to expand oil production by more in Canada than in any other country. If it continues on this course, Canada could become one of the world’s largest extractors of the new carbon that would drive the atmosphere over the edge.”



in Canada, Carbon Levels & Measurement, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, International Agencies & Studies, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Kern River Valley Fire Info/Facebook
International Agencies & Studies

SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20

March 20, 2023
202
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter
International Agencies & Studies

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
737
U.S. National Park Service/rawpixel
International Agencies & Studies

Window for 1.5°C ‘Rapidly Closing’, IPCC Warns

March 20, 2023
65

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Kern River Valley Fire Info/Facebook

SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20

March 20, 2023
202
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
445
Kenuoene/pixabay

Shift from Fossils to Renewables is Quickest, Cheapest Path to Cut Emissions, IPCC Report Shows

March 20, 2023
144
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
737
Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine/Wikimedia Commons

IPCC Report Charts a Course for Ottawa’s ‘Clean Technology’ Budget

March 21, 2023
106
U.S. National Park Service/rawpixel

Window for 1.5°C ‘Rapidly Closing’, IPCC Warns

March 20, 2023
65

Recent Posts

FMSC/Flickr

Swift Action, Inclusive Resilience Vital in Face of Overlapping Climate Hazards

March 20, 2023
57
Kiara Worth, UNClimateChange/flickr

Gap Between IPCC’s Science, National Actions Sets Challenge for COP 28

March 21, 2023
58
Photo by IISD/ENB

IPCC Sees Deeper Risk in Overshooting 1.5°C Warming Threshold

March 20, 2023
39
EcoFlight

Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration

March 19, 2023
438
Wikimedia Commons/Humans of Vanuatu

Six Countries Call for Fossil-Free Pacific

March 19, 2023
47
Wikipedia

Fossil Funding Makes Indigenous Resource Network a ‘Propaganda Machine’, Opponent Says

March 19, 2023
76
Next Post
Catherine McKenna/Facebook

Canada Shows ‘No Backbone’ with Three-Year Delay in Methane Regs

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}