CO2 readings at Mauna Loa briefly fall below 400 ppm for a few hours. Last time ever?
I monitor what's going on at the Mauna Loa observatory, and in this remarkable year, 2016, where carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are rising at the fastest rate ever recorded, I have been regularly posting here about the data, which I find even more terrifying than an idiot with orange hair running for President on an overtly racist platform. Compared to the risks of climate change, a prominent North American country going fascist is small potatoes, relatively at least.
My most recent remarks on this subject are here: All time record set for week-to-week annual measurements of annual CO2 increases at Mauna Loa.
The most recently available reported comparison between the data of a week this year in comparison to the same week of the previous year, showed that the concentration of carbon dioxide for week of July 10, 2016 was 2.81 ppm higher than the previous year. This is the first recorded piece of data since the week of March 6 that showed an increase in CO2 concentrations that was below 3.2 ppm when compared with the same week of the previous year. By itself, were 2.81 ppm higher than the previous year an annual reading as opposed to a reading from a single week, it would come in as the third worst year ever observed, after 2015 (3.05 ppm) and 1998, (2.93 ppm).
This graphic from the Mauna Loa Observatories website shows the annual data:
Carbon dioxide increases connected with the failure of humanity to take the issue seriously and think anew are climbing more or less linearly, albeit recently with a non-zero 2nd derivative. However a sinusoidal wave is superimposed on this function, as the following graphic (from the Mauna Loa CO2 Observatory's page), which should be familiar to anyone who checks this website, shows that to which I refer:
Here is a blow up from recent years:
Generally the maximum each year is reached in April or May, reflecting the concentration of landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere; the minimum is reached in late September or in early October.
In 2015, the worst year ever observed, a high reading of 404.11 ppm was reached; by September 27, it had fallen to a low of 397.2. Thus the magnitude of the swing was 6.91 ppm.
In 2016, the high was reached on April 10, at 408.69. If it falls by the same amount it will not fall below 400 ppm ever again.
However there is a certain amount of analytical noise in the readings, and something happened this week on July 18, as the weekly graphic shows, and briefly, for a few hours, values below 400 ppm were recorded, as low as 399 ppm.
Enjoy it. It may be the last time anyone now living will see something below 400 ppm. It may be just an analytical artifact, but we can dream, can't we?
July 21 recorded 404.92 ppm.
If any of this depresses you, don't worry be happy. Researchers continue to work on so called "renewable energy"; and we have "breakthroughs" announced here every day, as we have for the last 12 years. They haven't worked; they aren't working and they won't work, but it's the thought that counts, not results.
Have a nice weekend.
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