Carbon Dioxide Levels Hit 50% Higher Than Preindustrial Age
Voice of America
The annual peak of global heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air has reached another dangerous milestone: 50% higher than when the industrial age began.
And the average rate of increase is faster than ever, scientists reported Monday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average carbon dioxide level for May was 419.13 parts per million. That's 1.82 parts per million higher than May 2020 and 50% higher than the stable pre-industrial levels of 280 parts per million, said NOAA climate scientist Pieter Tans. Carbon dioxide levels peak every May just before plant life in the Northern Hemisphere blossoms, sucking some of that carbon out of the atmosphere and into flowers, leaves, seeds and stems. The reprieve is temporary, though, because emissions of carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and natural gas for transportation and electricity far exceed what plants can take in, pushing greenhouse gas levels to new records every year.Young women and their coach Dioguinho bring it in for a team huddle at the start of a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Agatha strikes a ball during a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Relatives watch a football training session for young women run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024.
FILE - A vendor prepares his umbrella as hot days continue in Manila, Philippines, April 29, 2024. FILE - Motorcyclists stop in the shade of a skytrain line on a hot day in Bangkok, Thailand, May 3, 2024. FILE - A man drinks water as he takes a break from cleaning underground sewage on a hot day in Mumbai, India, May 2, 2024.