Record leap in carbon dioxide seen in 2015

[Eugene]

Source: Phys.org

Record leap in carbon dioxide seen in 2015

March 10, 2016

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at a record pace last year, US government scientists reported, raising new concern about one of the top greenhouse gases and the effects of global warming.

The measurement came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

"The annual growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide... jumped by 3.05 parts per million during 2015, the largest year-to-year increase in 56 years of research," said a NOAA statement.

Last year also marked the fourth consecutive year that CO2 grew more than two parts per million.

As of February, the average global atmospheric CO2 level was 402.59 parts per million. This is a significant rise over pre-industrial times. Prior to 1800, atmospheric CO2 averaged about 280 ppm.

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Read more: http://phys.org/news/2016-03-carbon-dioxide.html

[BillZBubb]

1. That's not good. But, nothing is going to be done about it.

The people in the US won't be convinced this is serious until they are wading in 1 foot of salt water or they can't step outside during the day in the summer.

[NickB79]

2. And that's despite a massive increase in renewables in our energy mix and a slow global economy

My hunch is that we've passed the point of no return, and positive feedback loops like the "methane clathrate gun" have already begun firing. If true, it's now impossible to limit warming to 2C or less this century.

Either that, or we're seriously underestimating our carbon emissions to a staggering degree.