CO2 Concentration in the Atmosphere Exceeds Historical Threshold

According Slate.fr, the concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere exceeded in March 2015 the average monthly amount of 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in the post-industrial era, confirming the forecasts of specialists on climate disturbance and threats to biodiversity.

global-warming

The world’s most important political leaders will attend a summit on Climate Change in Paris at the end of 2015. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a worrying but predictable scenario. Monthly concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere exceeded in March 2015 the concentration of 400 parts per million (ppm), for the first time in the post-industrial era.

Such a figure has been measured by the same scientific research institute two years ago, but it a punctual and local value was recorded in Hawaii, on 9th May 2013. But this new measurement corresponds to a monthly average world (400, 83 ppm – March 2015).

In February 2015, the international community calmed down in a certain extent, finding that CO2 emissions have stagnated in 2014, which has never happened in the past 40 years, with the only exception during the periods of economic recession. However, the information NOAA has announced is not anecdotal.

The announced amount is neither maximum, nor recoil, explains Slate.com journalists. It reflects an accelerated pace in global warming. In Hawaii, for example, the trend is continuing: between 401.29 and 403.26 ppm in April 2014 – April 2015. “This does not mean that we will be able to plant pineapples in Canada” – said ironically the American journalists. They say that climate change is a phenomenon getting underway that will be too quick for some plants and some species to evolve and adapt to the new habitats.

Up to the industrial revolution, the CO2 concentration in the terrestrial atmosphere had not exceeded 300 ppm in a period of time of at least 800,000 years.

United Nations Conference on Climate Change will take place in December in Paris and aims to implement a series of regulations to limit global warming to 2° C compared to pre-industrial era. However, the results of previous summits are less encouraging on resolutions that will hopefully be adopted in the Paris at the global conference.

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One Comment

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