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The fact that carbon dioxide levels have increased by an almost record amount of 3.5 ppm in just one year shows that we are going in the opposite direction to what climatologists have shown to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. planetary.
Details: According to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere recorded at the Mauna Loa Isolated Observatory in Hawaii averaged 414.8 parts per million in May, which is the highest seasonal peak in the world. since the beginning of these observations 61 years ago.
- The highest monthly average value of carbon dioxide occurs in May, before plants absorb large amounts of greenhouse gases during the growing season of the northern hemisphere.
The National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration operates a global greenhouse gas emissions observing network that is similar to the May data from Scripps.
In numbers:
- NOAA readings indicate a seasonal peak of 414.7 ppm and the second fastest rate ever recorded.
- Studies using ice cores and other data on historical levels of carbon dioxide show that this is unprecedented in the entire history of mankind and that it is unclear. Probably the largest amount of CO2 in the air during the last 3 million years.
- The 2019 peak was 3.5pp above the peak of 2018, the second highest annual leap ever recorded.
- This trend has continued for the last six years, marked by a sharp global increase in carbon dioxide levels.
- The rate of increase has accelerated in recent decades, from about 1.6 ppm per year in the 1980s to 2.2 ppm per year over the last decade, a trend related conclusively to human activities.
- The monthly CO2 values at Mauna Loa exceeded the 400 ppm threshold in 2014.
- Part of the increase since 2018 would be linked to an ongoing El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
The big picture: Scientists warned that if the world wanted to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C or 2.7 ° F above pre-industrial levels, significant reductions in emissions would begin in the coming years, with the world moving towards negative emissions from the government. end of the century.
Context: In the north of autumn, in winter and early spring, plants and soils emit CO2, which causes levels to rise until May.
What they say: "These are measurements of the real atmosphere," says Pieter Tans, senior scientist at NOAA's global monitoring division, in a press release. "They do not depend on any model, but they help us to check projections of climate models, which at least underestimated the rapid pace of observed climate change."
And after: Scientists will announce a new annual figure for 2019 in early 2020, but the monthly peak is considered an important climatic indicator.
Go further: The carbon dioxide level of the Earth goes after another worrying step
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