Dangerous Climate Milestone Passed

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First published in Sanctuary Asia, Vol. 33 No. 5, May 2013

The measure was taken by the world's most important CO2 observatory, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Mauna Loa monitoring station in Hawaii, which has been measuring global levels of the heat-trapping gas since 1958. Although globally, we are still at annual averages of 395 ppm of CO2, the first measurement above 400 ppm represents a record-breaking and dangerous milestone in the struggle to combat and reverse climate change.

NOAA Climate Observatory on Mauna Loa, Hawaii (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Because climate change is caused primarily by the addition of CO2 into the atmosphere, the future extent of climate change will depend largely on how much carbon human beings add to existing levels.  Climate scientists have determined that 350 ppm is the maximum safe level of atmospheric carbon. According to Dr. James Hansen, former NASA climatologist, “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced to at most 350 ppm."
 

The deadly effects of global warming and extreme weather above the 350 ppm level have become apparent around the world in the form of rising seas, wildfires, droughts, floods, mega-storms, biodiversity loss, and other extreme physical and meteorological phenomena. Bill McKibben, climate activist and co-founder of 350.org, a global climate change organization, said, “We're in new territory for human beings - it's been millions of years since there's been this much carbon in the atmosphere. The only question now is whether the relentless rise in carbon can be matched by a relentless rise in the activism necessary to stop it."

 

Author: Jennifer Scarlott, Source: 350.org 

 

 



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