Experts report that the peak concentration of carbon dioxide in the air will soon reach the level that was last observed during the Pliocene epoch, that is, more than 3 000 000 years ago.
«For 50 years we did what the Ground under natural conditions it would take 10,000 years», say the researchers.
For the first time in human history, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s air reached 400 parts per million.
The last time the planet experienced such high levels was more than 3,000,000 years ago. https://t.co/98b7IjeTjZ
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 25, 2020
As reported by NBC in may 2013, the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has reached previously unthinkable milestone. For the first time in human history the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air reached 400 ppm (parts per million).
The last time the planet experienced such high levels of greenhouse gas more than 3 million years ago. Then the conditions on Earth were unrecognizable — giant animals roamed mostly free of ice in the Arctic.
But what was once considered an alarming threshold, it has now become commonplace. This year, scientists predict that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is likely to reach a maximum of about 417 ppm, which means that for every 1 million molecules of gas in the atmosphere 417 are carbon dioxide.
Thus, people will come to absolutely uncharted territory.
«For millions of years we had no atmosphere with the same chemical composition as now», — said Martin Sigerthe, one of the Directors of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.
The concentration of carbon dioxide is carefully monitored as an indicator of how people affect the Earth’s climate.
The combustion of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that hold heat in the atmosphere. Elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide associated with higher global temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.
Projections have #shooting past CO2 440 ppm in 2030. But…“It’s still under our control to a large degree. Future damage is still going to be controlled by future emissions so we still have an important control knob,” says Ralph Keeling. https://t.co/ZNveVf6CoF 1/2 pic.twitter.com/i4CWVZGAUl
— Keeling_Curve (@Keeling_curve) January 30, 2020
It is expected that this year the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be 10% higher than normal, according to Professor of geography, University of Exeter Richard Betts, head of climate impacts at the Meteorological office National weather service USA. While 1-2% of the increase was concentrated in a devastating fire season in Australia, he added.
It is believed that the fires in Australia that raged from September to early February, was thrown into the atmosphere of about 900 million tons of carbon dioxide.
When on the planet the last time was the atmosphere, which reflect the chemical composition of the day, the Earth was in the middle Pliocene. During this geological period (5.3 to 2.6 million years ago) people have not yet appeared on the planet, and average sea level was 20 meters higher than today. The global average temperature was around -14 degrees Celsius, and the temperature at the poles is probably two times higher, according to Sigurta.
«On the planet will become much less ice — not likely to be of the Greenland ice sheet, the West Antarctic ice sheet is likely to melt and large chunks of the East Antarctic ice sheet likely also exfoliate».
Carbon dioxide levels jumped by about 100 ppm since 1958, when American scientist Charles David Keeling first started to record daily atmospheric measurements using the instruments in the Observatory of Mauna Loa in Hawaii. To put this in perspective, a similar increase took 10 000 years: from the coldest part of the last ice age to its end, according to unpublished working paper Siegert and his colleagues from the Institute of Grantham.
But although the statistics paint a gloomy picture, Siegert said that his calm only the actions of young environmentalists who understand what is at stake in the climate crisis, and demand change.
«They understand this better than the decision makers, he said, — therefore I am optimistic because I think that in the next 30 years we will be in good hands.»
