Carbon dioxide reaches record levels in atmosphere — again

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached its highest level in human history, according to U.S. government data.

The Earth hasn’t had this much CO2 in the atmosphere in more than 4 million years, researchers found.

Atmospheric CO2 was first measured at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s facility in Hawaii in 1958. Since then, the numbers have gone up nearly every year.

“The science is irrefutable: humans are altering our climate in ways that our economy and our infrastructure must adapt to,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. “We can see the impacts of climate change around us every day.

CO2 levels peak every year in May, just as spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere before plants reach full bloom and absorb the gas. The numbers then fall until November before restarting their climb.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat that would otherwise escape into space, warming the planet and creating more extreme weather events, such as wildfires and droughts.

Despite years of promises about limiting climate change, CO2 levels continue to rise. In fact, the year over year increase from 2022 to 2023 was one of the largest jumps on record.

“To me as an atmospheric scientist, that trend is very concerning,” said NOAA monitor Arlyn Andrews. “Not only is CO2 continuing to increase despite efforts to start reducing emissions, but it’s increasing faster than it was 10 or 20 years ago.”

In May 2023, atmospheric CO2 was measured at 424 parts per million, a full 3 ppm increase on last year’s record of 421 ppm. The only larger increases occurred in 2016 and 2019.

“Carbon dioxide is at levels our species has never experienced before — this is not new,” said climate scientist Pieter Tans. “We have known about this for half a century, and have failed to do anything meaningful about it. What’s it going to take for us to wake up?”

With News Wire Services