warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Atmospheric CO2 Reaching Historic Levels

Benjamin Li |
November 6, 2013 | 9:42 a.m. PST

Greenhouse gas emissions. (Google Advanced Search)
Greenhouse gas emissions. (Google Advanced Search)
2012 has seen a significant rise in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in comparison to the average increase in greenhouse gas concentrations over the past decade.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a Geneva-based world authority on measuring gas concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere, greenhouse gases' warming effect on the planet's climate has worsened by almost a third since 1990.

The amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide increased by 2.2 ppm, or parts per million (a measurement of gas particles in the atmosphere), in 2012 - significantly above the 2.02 ppm yearly growth rate over the past decade.

The daily measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide has already passed the 400 parts per million mark.

"This year is worse than last year, 2011. 2011 was worse than 2010," said Michel Jarraud, WMO's Secretary-General, during a news conference in Geneva. "Every passing year makes the situation somewhat more difficult to handle, it makes it more challenging to stay under this symbolic 2 degree global average."

The 2 degree limit on rising temperatures was an international agreement among nations participating in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to prevent the global temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius.

According to Jarraud, the growth of climate temperatures slowed over the past decade because temperatures have been soaked up by the heat-retaining properties of the vast ocean, but global warming will reach its full impact in the coming decades.

"The laws of physics and chemistry are not negotiable," said Jarraud.

 

Reach Executive Producer Benjamin Li here:



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.