Scripps, NOAA Report Record Two-Year Increase in Earth's Carbon Dioxide Level
Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced Thursday. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are increasing faster than ever, according to scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The scientists calculated a May monthly average of 426.7 parts per million for 2024, an increase of 2.92 ppm over May 2023's measurement of 423.78 ppm. This is the largest two-year jump in the May peak of the Keeling Curve in the NOAA record. This rise has come despite a recent international report stating that fossil fuel emissions have decreased. Each year increases the maximum level of carbon dioxide due to fossil-fuel burning, which releases pollution into the atmosphere. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad warned of the rapid increase in atmospheric CO levels and called for rapid action to reduce fossil fuel use.
Publicerad : 11 månader sedan förbi Chris Jennewein i Tech
Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced Thursday.
Scientists at Scripps, which initiated the CO monitoring program known as the Keeling Curve at Mauna Loa in 1958, calculated a May monthly average of 426.7 parts per million for 2024, an increase of 2.92 ppm over May 2023’s measurement of 423.78 ppm.
May is historically the month when CO reaches its highest level in the Northern Hemisphere.
When combined with 2023’s increase of 3.0 ppm, 2022 to 2024 has seen the largest two-year jump in the May peak of the Keeling Curve in the NOAA record.
The surge has come even as one highly regarded international report has found that fossil fuel emissions, the main driver of climate change, have plateaued in recent years.
“Not only is CO now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever. Each year achieves a higher maximum due to fossil-fuel burning, which releases pollution in the form of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” said Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO program that manages the measurement series. “Fossil fuel pollution just keeps building up, much like trash in a landfill.”
Keeling also noted that other measurements recorded in recent months yielded another troubling record when the March 2024 reading achieved the highest 12-month increase in Keeling Curve history.
Like other greenhouse gases, CO acts like a blanket, preventing heat from radiating from the atmosphere into space. The warming atmosphere fuels extreme weather events, such as heat waves, drought and wildfires, as well as heavier precipitation and flooding.
“Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad.
“Now we are finding that atmospheric CO levels are increasing faster than ever,” Spinrad said. “We must recognize that these are clear signals of the damage carbon dioxide pollution is doing to the climate system, and take rapid action to reduce fossil fuel use as quickly as we can.”
Ämnen: ESG