Carbon dioxide levels raced off the charts in 2015, as our planet saw the largest annual increase in atmospheric CO2 levels.
The data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is especially disconcerting, as it shows how quickly greenhouse gas levels are increasing in Earth’s atmosphere. These higher levels are contributing to the ongoing trend of global warming, and causing ice melt in areas such as Antarctica and Greenland, which consequently lead to higher sea levels. Other regions are also experiencing never-before-seen heat waves, and doing so more frequently. The NOAA report also suggests that despite countries’ best efforts to work on the greenhouse gas problem, these efforts are not good enough, or aren’t working just yet.
Based on data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the NOAA report shows that CO2 measurements rose by 3.05 parts per million (ppm) in 2015. This was the fastest annual increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide in 56 years of tracking the figure. It also adds to existing data that hints carbon dioxide levels are higher than they’ve ever been in the last 800,000 years of human history.
NOAA added that 2015 was the fourth consecutive year in which carbon dioxide concentrations had risen by over 2 ppm. As of last month, the average global atmospheric CO2 level was at 402.59 ppm, or over 30 percent higher than pre-industrial age levels of about 280 ppm on average. Going forward, CO2 levels may go past the 450 to 500 ppm mark by the end of the century, unless world leaders heighten their efforts to greatly curb greenhouse gas emissions in the coming two decades.
“Carbon dioxide levels are increasing faster than they have in hundreds of thousands of years,” said NOAA Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network team leader Pieter Tans in a statement. “It’s explosive compared to natural processes.”
By: Melissa Taylor.
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