NOAA Reports 2nd-Biggest Jump In Annual Atmospheric CO2 On Record As Dump Speaks
As President Donald Trump prepared to pull the United States out of the global Paris climate agreement this week, scientists at NOAA reported that 2016 had recorded the second-biggest jump in atmospheric carbon dioxide on record. Last year's increase in the atmospheric CO2 concentration was nearly double the average pace since detailed measurements started in 1979.
Once CO2 is in the atmosphere, the heat-trapping gas persists there for decades as new emissions pile in, which means that even if global emissions level off—as they have started to do—the planet is on a path toward more warming, rising sea levels and increased heat waves and droughts in the decades ahead.
Concentrations of other greenhouse gases, including methane and nitrous oxide, also increased last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's latest update to its greenhouse gas index. The heating effect of all combined greenhouses gases in the atmosphere increased by 2.5 percent in 2016, according to the index.
"The warming effect of these chemicals we're tracking has increased by 40 percent since 1990," said Steve Montzka, a NOAA scientist who co-authored the update. "Even though emissions are leveling off, CO2 is so long-lived that the concentration is still increasing."
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01062017/donald-trump-noaa-CO2-paris-climate-change-agreement
