Earth Carbon dioxide levels are at a 3.6 million year high
The level of atmospheric CO2 surged past 420 PPM in the first week of April reaching their highest point in 3.6 million years and to levels 50 per cent higher than before the industrial revolution.
The concentration of atmospheric carbon-dioxide reached a new high of 421.21 Parts Per Million (PPM) on April 3 , according to measurements taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Climate scientists generally agree that in order for life on Earth to be minimally interrupted, Earth's carbon dioxide levels should remain under 350 PPM. When NOAA began collecting carbon-dioxide measurements in the late 1950s, atmospheric CO2 concentration sat at around 315 PPM way above the pre-industrial levels of 278 ppm.
According to Richard Betts, Head of Climate Impacts Research, Met Office
Humans began burning fossil fuels at large scales at the end of the 18th Century, and it took about 200 years for the atmosphere to see a 25 per cent increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, but only another 35 years to reach this year’s sorry milestone of a 50 per cent increase.
Global CO2 emissions reduced temporarily in 2020 as a result of a drop in transport use and economic activity due to lockdowns as the coronavirus pandemic struck. But the emissions reduction in 2020 was not enough to substantially affect the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which continues to rise, warns experts.