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At 11,000 feet, scientists discover Earth has broken a frightening record

US scientists made the crucial measurement at a federal research facility located at an altitude of 11,135 feet (3,397 metres).

Because of its remote location in the Pacific Ocean, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, located in the highlands of Hawaii, is tasked with taking daily measurements of unpolluted air. On June 6, NOAA revealed evidence that the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide “is accumulating in the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, exponentially increasing to levels never before experienced by humanity.”

The atmospheric CO2 concentration in May of this year reached 427 ppm, an increase of about 3 ppm from May of last year (CO2 concentrations peak every year in May, Natural global variationsFurthermore, if the increase from 2022 onwards is added, it will be the largest two-year increase in CO2 on record.

The laboratory’s continuous records clearly show how the atmosphere has changed since the late 1950s. The air layer is preserved Ancient ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland and other environmental observations show that changes over the past 150 years or so have been significant: Atmospheric CO2 is now skyrocketing.

“Not only are carbon dioxide levels at their highest in millions of years, but they’re rising faster than ever before,” said Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps Carbon Dioxide Program, which oversees the atmospheric monitoring program. statement“The burning of fossil fuels releases pollutants into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, which reaches higher and higher peaks every year. Like trash in a landfill, fossil fuel pollution just keeps building up.”

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The most distant photograph of Earth ever taken

It’s not hard to imagine that a change this big would have big effects. Sure, carbon dioxide is considered a “trace gas” in an atmosphere dominated by nitrogen and oxygen. But in our physical reality, it’s common for low concentrations of a substance to have outsized effects.

“Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the warmest ocean temperatures on record, and endless heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms,” ​​NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement, part of a clear climate change trend. “2023 was the warmest year for Earth since modern records began around 1880, and the past decade has been the warmest consecutive decade on record.” NASA noted.

The first graph below shows that atmospheric CO2 levels have been rising continuously since 1958. The second graph compares this recent increase with the past 800,000 years.

NOAA graph showing monthly average carbon dioxide measurements since 1958 at Mauna Loa Observatory.
Credit: NOAA Earth Monitoring Laboratory

CO2 levels in Earth's atmosphere over the past 800,000 years.

CO2 levels in Earth’s atmosphere over the past 800,000 years.
Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

But it’s important to emphasize that civilization is not inherently doomed, climate scientists say. We are not powerless: We have energy options available to us that could limit the worst effects of climate change, particularly by drastically limiting the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere.

For now, this and other monitoring stations will continue to record hard facts about the atmosphere.




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