WMO: Greenhouse Gas Volume Marked a Symbolic Threshold

According to U.N World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, the amount of Greenhouse gas spiked to the highest rate in 2015. This fuels climate change and make the planet more dangerous even if government limits man-made global warming.

WMO reports said, the total percentage of carbon dioxide worldwide, a potent greenhouse gas hit 400.0 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere. This is the first time on record and was 44 percent higher than pre-Industrial Revolution Levels.

The uncontrollable growth is in contrast with a recent Paris Agreement signed by 200 country leaders. The agreement is meant to regulate emissions, phase out fossil fuels, and expand renewable energy.

In a statement of WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taala, he said, “The year 2015 ushered in a new era of optimism and climate action with the Paris climate change agreement. But it will also make history as marking a new era of climate change reality with record high greenhouse gas concentrations,”

“The key issue here is to go from this kind of political will to concrete action,” he told a news conference in Geneva. “So far we haven’t seen a major change in the behavior.”

An observatory at Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the main measuring station with records back to 1958. It “predicts that carbon dioxide concentrations will stay above 400 ppm for the whole of 2016 and not dip below that level for many generations”, he added.

WMO’s atmospheric environment research chief Oksana Tarasova seconded the notion. He said, “Carbon dioxide levels will continue rising unless the world stops burning fossil fuels and starts planting trees, the technology is there. It’s just human will. If we want we can do it”. He recalls Europe’s successful efforts to combat acid rain by tackling sulfur and nitrogen emissions.

“You can bend the curve. If you take an action and you sign a treaty and everybody follows their commitments. It’s not magic.” She added.

Taalas said, “consequences of climate change, such as weather-related disasters, were set to continue even if emissions start to come down. We could see improvement in the 2060s if we start reducing emissions now.”

Man-made warming is blamed for causing heatwaves, downpours, droughts and rising ocean levels.

El-Niño boosts CO2 levels

The WMO said, the total level percentage of CO2 were at 400.0pm globally in 2015 while 2.3ppm from 2014.

El Niño warms the eastern pacific ocean. It is also the primary reason for the recent rapid increase of CO2 globally. Further, El Niño triggers droughts and wildfires in tropical regions. It reduces the ability of forests, vegetation and oceans to absorb carbon dioxide. This leaves more CO2 in the atmosphere.

A U.N. panel of climate scientists estimates that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are at their highest in at least 800,000 years.

“The real elephant in the room is carbon dioxide, which remains in the atmosphere for thousands of years,” Taalas said.

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Passing the Carbon Threshold Gives the Planet a Grim Future That’s Almost Impossible to Reverse

HAWAII – Mauna Loa Observatory measured the carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth’s atmosphere crossed 400 parts per million (PPM). The CO2 level in the atmosphere’s effects would be an almost impossible task to reverse for centuries to come. It is a ghastly milestone that everyone should fear.

This would be the first time that the CO2 levels in September crossed the 400 ppm. September normally is the month that reflects global CO2 levels in their lowest during a year.

Scripps Institute for Oceanography head of the CO2 monitoring program, Ralph Keeling wrote that it would be “almost impossible” to drop below the 400 ppm till the end of the year. Keeling said, “Brief excursions toward lower values are still possible. But it already seems safe to conclude that we won’t be seeing a monthly value below 400 ppm this year – or ever again for the indefinite future.”

From the time of the industrial revolution, the CO2 in the atmosphere has been increasing at a constant pace. It is however the first time after millions of years that the CO2 level has crossed the 400 ppm.

David Block from the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the Stony Brook University said that the Earth had crossed the 400 ppm mark about 3.5 million years ago. At that time, the climate of the planet was different from what we currently have. During those time, the Arctic was warmer and the global sea level was about 15–90 feet higher.

Black pointed out that the CO2 levels even dip to 280 ppm before the industrial revolution began. He said, “One of the things that really concerns climate scientists is we as humans have taken only a few centuries to do what nature took millions of years. Most of that change was just in the last 50-60 years”

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