Atmospheric CO2 Levels Rose at Record Rate in 2016 –WMO

WMO GREENHOUSE GAS BULLETIN (No. 13) 30 Oct. 2017

‘The State of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere Based on Global Observations through 2016’

Excerpts from Report’s Executive Summary:

Analysis of observations from the WMO GAW Program shows that globally averaged surface mole fractions calculated for CO₂ , methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) reached new highs in 2016, with

• CO₂ at 403.3 ± 0.1 pp [or 145% pre-industrial – before 1750 – levels.]
• CH₄ at 1 853 ± 2 ppb [257%]
• N₂O at 328.9 ± 0.1 ppb [122%]

The record increase of 3.3 ppm in CO₂ from 2015 to 2016 was larger than the previous record increase, observed from 2012 to 2013, and the average growth rate over the last decade. The increase of CH₄ from 2015 to 2016 was slightly smaller than that observed from 2014 to 2015, but larger than the average over the last decade. The increase of N₂O from 2015 to 2016 was also slightly smaller than that observed from 2014 to 2015 and the average growth rate over the past 10 years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) shows that from 1990 to 2016, radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs) increased by 40%, with CO₂ accounting for about 80% of this increase. The WMO GAW Program (http://www.wmo.int/gaw)

Up-to-date weekly average CO₂at Mauna Loa, Hawaii
Week beginning on October 22, 2017: 404.01 ppm
Weekly value from 1 year ago: 401.83 ppm
Weekly value from 10 years ago: 381.44 ppm
Last updated: October 30, 2017

Full CO₂ record at Mauna Loa

• Analysis and additional information available via FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

Pump, Pump, Pump Up the Volume!

All CO2 Stats are Shooting Up!

Up goes the annual mean growth rate of atmospheric CO2 to 2.2 ppm for 2007.

• Growth rate for 2006 : 1.8 ppm
• Average rate for the period 2000-2007 : 2.0 ppm per year
• Annual mean growth rate average for 1977-2007 :  1.5 ppm per year
• Atmospheric CO2 concentration (2007) : 383 ppm  (37% higher than the preindustrial revolution levels of about 280 ppm (1750)
• Current concentration of atmospheric CO2 is the highest level probably in the last 20 million years
• Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have been growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the previous decade
• Emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel and land use change almost reached the mark of 10 billion tons of carbon in 2007
• Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are growing x4 faster since 2000 than during the previous decade, exceeding the worst case emission scenario of IPCC
• These changes imply a more critical impact on climate and sooner than expected

[ppm: parts per million]

Note: Based on FEWW calculations, the anthropogenic CO2 Emissions for 2007 almost reached 10.38 PgC.

Emissions increased from 6.2 PgC per year in 1990 to 8.5 PgC in 2007, a 38% increase from the Kyoto reference year 1990. The growth rate of emissions was 3.5% per year for the period of 2000-2007, an almost four fold increase from 0.9% per year in 1990-1999. (Source: Carbon Budget 2007 – Global Carbon Project).

[PgC: Petagrams of carbon. To convert to CO2 million metric tons, MMT, divide C figure by 12 and multiply by 44; e.g., 1PgC  is the equivalent of 3,666.67 MMT of CO2.]

(calculations based on the period 2000-2006) – Canadell et al. 2007, PNAS – (Source: Carbon Budget 2007 – Global Carbon Project).

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