Posted on 05/13/2008 2:27:37 PM PDT by kingattax
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reached a record high, according to new figures.
The shockingly high concentration of the gas has fuelled fears that climate change could begin to slide out of control.
Green campaigners are today claiming that building new airports and coal-fired power stations was an "unpardonable folly" as the figures were revealed.
Scientists at Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii said atmospheric levels of the climate change gas had hit 387 parts per million (ppm), the highest rate for 650,000 years.
The figures published by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) in the US also showed the annual average rate of CO2 level rises was 2.14ppm for last year.
Levels of carbon dioxide in the air have been rising consistently since measurements began in 1958 at the remote laboratory in Hawaii, and experts warn that the rate of growth is increasing.
Scientists say that the shift could indicate that the Earth is losing its natural ability to soak up billions of tonnes of CO2 each year.
Current climate models assume that about half of our future emissions will be reabsorbed by forests and oceans, but the new figures confirm that this may be too optomistic.
Professor Andrew Watson of the School of Environment Sciences at the University of East Anglia said there had been average rises of around 1.5ppm a year in the 1980s and 1990s, but levels had been increasing by more than 2ppm most years since 2000.
He said some 70 to 80 per cent of the rises could be attributed to people releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere, for example through burning fossil fuels.
The remaining 20 to 30 per cent was down to the Earth's natural carbon sinks such as oceans "weakening" - losing some of their ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
Responding to the news, Greenpeace climate change campaigner Robin Oakley said: "We're now witnessing a key moment in the climate change story and it's not good news.
"The last time the atmosphere was this choked with CO2, humans were yet to evolve as a species.
"To even consider building new runways and coal-fired power stations at this juncture in history is an unpardonable folly, but Gordon Brown seems determined to stumble forward regardless with his ill-conceived plans in the face of the science and widespread public opposition."
And who measured it in 648000 BC?
Oh, come on! Unless somebody was around to take measurements 650,000 years ago, they’re GUESSING!!!
-ping—
lol..can you believe this Bravo Sierra ?
It mean 650,001 years ago, levels were higher than they are today. And that’s without SUVs.
Okay, let's see....I need cereal...bread...toothpaste...
“Levels of carbon dioxide in the air have been rising consistently since measurements began in 1958 at the remote laboratory in Hawaii”
I think their math is a bit off...2008-1958 = 50 years by my reckoning, not 650,000. Must be an honest mistake.
I think that perhaps the CO2 has already damaged John McCain’s brain.
Dam.....you beat me to it. I wanted to ask that question. How the hell do they know what it was like 650,000 years ago in space?
Unfortunately, yes. But I'm also considering the source.
Damn those pre-historic cavemen and their grass-guzzling dinosaurs...
Good news for the rainforest.
If all the leftist/socialist/marxist dumb f——s committed suicide, there would be a lot less carbon dioxide being emitted.
Exactly. Darn those pterodactyls and their dirty exhaust!
/johnny
I hope it’s too late and theres a climate crisis. I’ll laugh as environmentalists drown.
Along with my statement............I’ll say this again.....Something nobody wants to address.....we are fast reaching the point of having too many people in this world. My opinion of course.....but look at the third world countries, they can’t even feed themselves, we have to feed them.
Beat me by a minute.
Stop breathing.
Darn volcanos.
640000BC Volcanic eruptions in northwest Wyoming, extending to Idaho and Montana, created a caldera some 40 miles long and 30 miles wide. The surface collapsed thousands of feet into a magma pool and marked the area later known as Yellowstone. Continuing eruptions caused climactic changes around the world.
(SFEC, 10/18/98, p.T5)(HC, 10/10/06)
http://timelines.ws/0A1MILL_3300BC.HTML
My ancestors tell me the climate was superb....650,000 years ago.
That means more water vapor in the air, more clouds, more rain, and cooler temperatures. As if it isn’t wet and cold enough.
The atmosphere is not choked with CO2. For the purposes of absorpsion of solar energy, the prevalence of water vapor causes the absorpsion to be flat. So, the article's exaggerated claim is pointless.
Greenpeace is the new Red Menace!
This is excellent news! Now we can expect better crops and more tree growth. Downside is you may have to mow the yard more frequently.
From the Wayback Machine...
The bullshit level is the highest in 650,000 years.
The human raced has finally advanced to the point that it will stop further advancement.
The reality is there is abundant food for everyone but it simply isn't in the right places (water also).
It’s amazing how long this agency has been around. So National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) is 650,000 years old?
Why, they're not guessing... those junior-league scientists have models, don't you know...
Let’s see they are saying that at one time in our past that co2 levels were higher than they are now but there were no humans to drive the levels to that figure. Is that about it? So, what we have here is that CO2 levels are a normal part of the earths on going climate and that we have nothing to do with, correct? What a bunch of dumb asses.
I hate to say it but we may have to help them commit suicide, just saying.
Speaking of math, if CO2 was rising by 2PPM and the world is now at 380PPM then 190 years ago there was no CO2?
This would coincide with the industrialization of the US...
Therefore this is America’s fault!!!
So, Al Gore told me these were the highest temperatures in 1500 years. If that’s so, it can’t be co2 that’s causing it or these would be the highest temperatures in 650,000 years
If you look at the annual change of CO2 levels, you’ll note that they bottom out each year in September, and there is a direct association between their annual flux and the seasons.
This winter has been cooler than normal, and if it continues through the summer and into fall, there could be a sharp drop in CO2 around September, dragging the whole chart downward.
This, of course, assumes that the data will not be corrupted yet again, which invariably has resulted in increasing the CO2 readings.
Click on POGW graphic for full GW rundown
New!!: Dr. John Ray's
GREENIE WATCH
The Great Global Warming Swindle Video - back on the net!! (click here)
Ping me if you find one I've missed.
“And who measured it in 648000 BC?”
John McCain, but he was very young then.
650,000 years ago, were the north and south poles where they are today ?
And just how bad was the climate 650,000 + 1 years ago? Further, what level is optimum and who gets to decide?
I want one of those. And what a great shot, with Dad wearing a tie and smoking a pipe...
I am of a mixed mind on this.
On the one hand, I am glad my parents didn't stop with 12 kids, because I am the 13th.
On the other hand, I can readily agree that your parents shouldn't have had any.
I think “assisted suicide” is legal in Oregon.
Hillary’s got the method down.
Well maybe we should lure them all to Oregon?:)
First off, go back farther than 650,000 years. Yes, amazingly, the co2 level has been much, much higher than currently. A couple hundred million years ago it was 3000 ppm, nearly 10 times what it is now. did we have a runaway greenhouse effect? no. The climate models are all based on the erroneous assumption that there is a positive feedback loop between co2, fewer clouds, more heat, and so on. there isn’t. As Roy spencer has shown on his website, there is a negative feedback loop, so increasing co2 will not result in the kind of warming the fearmongers are portraying.
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