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Climate researchers in Texas believe that the Earth existed in a "low-carbon environment" until the mid-1960s. A study published by the Texas College of Geosciences at A & M University's Texas has revealed that atmospheric CO2 levels do not exceed 320 parts per million – a record that has been unmatched for 2.5 million years. Today, CO2 levels in the atmosphere exceed no less than 410 parts per million. The critical climate study was published in Nature Communications on September 25th.
Professor Yige Zhang, co-author of the study, said, "According to this study, the first Homo erectus, which currently dates from 2.1 to 1.8 million years ago, and this up to In 1965, we live in a low carbon dioxide environment. – the concentrations were less than 320 parts per million.
"So, this current environment rich in carbon dioxide is not just an experience for climate and enlistment, it's also an experience for us, for ourselves."
Professor Zhang and his team have been studying CO2 throughout the history of the planet over the last three million years.
Going back to the Pleistocene era, which ended 11,700 years ago, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were close to 230 parts per million – almost half of the current average.
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The researchers came to the conclusion by studying geological samples taken from the Loess Plateau in central China.
Similarly, Professor Zhang said the researchers were drilling ice cores from Antarctica but that these cores are only 800,000 years old.
The researchers analyzed the carbonates in ancient soil samples in order to reconstruct the Pleistocene climate of the Earth.
Carbon dioxide is widely regarded as a greenhouse gas, which means that high concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere heat the planet.
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Professor Zhang believes that greenhouse gases are the main driving force of climate change.
"It is important to study atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the geological past, because we know that the climate is already having consequences and there will be more, and one way to find out more about these consequences. is to look at the history of the Earth.
"Then we can see what kind of CO2 level we had, what the climate looked like and what the relationship was between them."
He added: "Our reconstructions show that, for the entire Pleistocene period, carbon dioxide averaged about 230 parts per million, which corresponds to the values of the last 800,000 years."
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According to the US NASA space agency, CO2 levels in the atmosphere are at their peak for at least 650,000 years.
Carbon dioxide released during the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation prevent the heat emitted by the Sun from escaping into space.
Natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions also contribute to the amount of CO2 that covers the Earth.
In August 2019, NASA's CO2 measurements were 412 parts per million.
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