homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Record level atmospheric CO2. Reaches 400 ppm for the first time in 3 million years

A bit late with on this story, but considering the importance of this rather unfortunate milestone, it’s best you all hear it again. On the 9th of May NOAA reported CO2 levels of 400.03 parts per million (ppm), which is a level unseen for three million years. This is the first time in human history that atmospheric […]

Tibi Puiu
May 14, 2013 @ 9:51 am

share Share

A bit late with on this story, but considering the importance of this rather unfortunate milestone, it’s best you all hear it again. On the 9th of May NOAA reported CO2 levels of 400.03 parts per million (ppm), which is a level unseen for three million years. This is the first time in human history that atmospheric CO2 has risen past 400 ppm.

Skeptics still accounting these alarmingly high figures to the planet’s natural climate change cycle should take a lot at the charts below. If these aren’t enough we have a list of seven more charts that plainly show the planet is anthropomorphically warming.

chart

Atmospheric CO2 level readings are made on a daily basis, and this particular one came from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which has been measuring how much carbon dioxide is in the air since 1958. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography puts the milestone in historic context:

“Prior to the Industrial Revolution, natural climate variations caused atmospheric CO2 to vary between about 200 ppm during ice ages and 300 ppm during the warmer periods between ice ages. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, around the year 1780, the CO2 concentration was about 280 ppm, so CO2 had already risen by around 40 ppm before Keeling began his measurements. Anyone who has breathed air with less than 300 ppm CO2 is now over 100 years old!”

The announcement was made on twitter, via the institutes  @Keeling_Curve twitter account.

share Share

Geologists Thought Rocks Take Millennia to Form. On This English Coastline, They’re Appearing in Decades

Soda tabs, zippers, and plastic waste are turning into rock before our eyes.

Parked Dark-Colored Cars Are Like Mini Heat Islands That Make City Streets Several Degrees Hotter

The color of your car may be heating your street—and your city

Beef is Driving Huge Deforestation and Emissions, But Is Regenerative Grazing a Solution?

Beef production contributes to numerous global crises, from climate change to habitat destruction to biodiversity loss.

A swarm of jellyfish just shut down 10% of France's nuclear power

On a hot August night, jellyfish jammed a nuclear giant.

A Radioactive Wasp Nest Was Just Found at an Old U.S. Nuclear Weapons Site and No One Knows What Happened

Wasp nest near nuclear waste tanks tested 10 times above safe radiation limits

"Self-termination is most likely." This expert believes our civilization is on a crash course led by narcissistic leaders

Our civilization may be facing a “single gargantuan crash,” but collapse isn’t destiny. It’s a choice.

This New Coating Repels Oil Like Teflon Without the Nasty PFAs

An ultra-thin coating mimics Teflon’s performance—minus most of its toxicity.

To Fight Invasive Pythons in the Everglades Scientists Turned to Robot Rabbits

Scientists are unleashing robo-rabbits to trick and trap giant invasive snakes

The AI Boom Is Thirsty for Water — And Communities Are Paying the Price

What if the future of artificial intelligence depends on your town running out of water?

What If We Built Our Skyscrapers from Wood? It's Just Crazy Enough to Work (And Good for the Planet)

Forget concrete and steel. The real future is wood.