CO2 Tops 400ppm at Mauna Loa as Forecast

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Crosses 400PPM Milestone at Hawaii Observatory

On April 3, FIRE-EARTH forecast that the weekly average atmospheric CO₂ at Mauna Loa could hit 400ppm by May 2013.

Last 5 days of daily average CO₂

May 09 – 400.03  |  May 08 – 399.42  |  May 07 – 399.59  |  May 06 – 399.43 |  May 05 – 399.47  |

This is the first time the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in Hawaii tops 400ppm since measurement began in 1958, according to ESRL data.

The rise to 400ppm level of the atmospheric carbon dioxide represents yet another appalling milestone in the brief history of the homo ignarus.

The last time Earth’s atmosphere contained this much carbon dioxide was probably as many as 5 million years ago.

CO2 Daily and Weekly Means at Mauna Loa.  The weekly mean (red bar) is simply the average of all days in the week for which a background value could be defined. The average standard deviation of day to day variability, calculated as the difference from the appropriate weekly mean, equals 0.38 ppm for the entire record. As a visual aid, the blue lines present monthly means of background data as they are presented under Recent Monthly CO₂ at Mauna Loa. [Source: ESRL/NOAA]

Up-to-date weekly average CO2 at Mauna Loa

• Week of April 28, 2013: 399.58 ppm
• Weekly value from 1 year ago: 396.81 ppm
• Weekly value from 10 years ago: 378.50 ppm

Recent Global CO2

• February 2013: 395.98 ppm
• February 2012: 393.05 ppm

Recent Monthly Average Mauna Loa CO2

• March 2013: 397.34 ppm
• March 2012: 394.45 ppm

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GHG Concentration at Record Level: WMO

Brief History of Mankind

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at record levels: the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The average mixing ratios of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) reached record level in 2009,WMO reported.

• CO2 concentrations ~ 386.8 ppm
• CH4 ~ 1,803 ppb
• N2O ~ 322.5 ppb

These values are greater than the corresponding atmospheric concentrations in pre-industrial times (~1750) by 38%, 158% and 19%, respectively.

In the twenty year period between 1990 and 2009, the combined radiative forcing—the balance between atmosphere’s incoming and outgoing radiation—for all persistent greenhouse gases increased by 27.5%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of the increase, according to the NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index.

Source: WMO GHG Bulletin

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Carbon dioxide is the single most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, contributing 63.54 %2 to the overall global radiative forcing. It is responsible for 85% of the increase in radiative forcing over the past decade and 83% over the last five years. For about 10 000 years before the industrial revolution, the atmospheric abundance of CO2 was nearly constant at ~ 280 ppm (ppm = number of molecules of the gas per million molecules of dry air). This level represented a balance among the atmosphere, the oceans and the biosphere. Since 1750, atmospheric CO2 has increased by 38%, primarily because of emissions from combustion of fossil fuels (8.7 Gt carbon in 2008, http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/), deforestation and landuse change. High-precision measurements of atmospheric CO2 beginning in 1958 show that the average increase in CO2 in the atmosphere (airborne fraction) corresponds to ~ 55% of the CO2 emitted by fossil fuel combustion. WMO

Source: WMO GHG Bulletin

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Thought Hainan Was an Island!!

Original Caption: A woman walks in a water-flooded residence community after heavy rainfall in Haikou, capital of south China’s Hainan Province, Oct. 8, 2010. Haikou witnessed successive heavy rainfall for eight days and the rainfall flooded many roads and streets here. Local meteorological department forecasted that the rain won’t stop until Oct. 11. (Xinhua/Fu Yongtao). Image may be subject to copyright. More images…

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“It’s got to get worse, before it could get better [sic]”

A worker walks along a railway track at a coking factory in Changzhi, Shanxi province August 28, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer. Image may be subject to copyright.

Chairman Mao (1940 speech):

For the purpose of attaining freedom in the world of nature, man must use natural science to understand, conquer, and change nature, and thus attain freedom from nature.

Freud:

There is, indeed, another and a better path: that of becoming a member of human community, and, with the help of a technique guided by science, going over to attack against nature and subjecting her to human will.

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