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THE CONCENTRATION OF carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has hit a new high, the UN said today, warning that drastic action is needed to achieve targets set by the Paris climate agreement.
“Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016 to the highest level in 800,000 years,” the World Meteorological Organization said.
“Globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Nino event,” it said.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the UN weather agency’s annual flagship report, tracks the content of dangerous gasses in the atmosphere in the post-industrial era (since 1750).
Researchers have “reliable, direct measurements” of C02 concentrations rates going back 800,000 years using air bubbles preserved in ice in places like Greenland and Antarctica, the head of WMO’s atmospheric environment research division, Oksana Tarasova, told reporters in Geneva.
But by studying fossilised material the WMO also has rough estimates going back even further.
Using those measures, the report found that the last time Earth experienced similar CO2 concentration rates to today was three to five million years ago, when the sea level was up to 20 metres (66 feet) higher than now and the planet was 2-3 degrees Celsius warmer.
‘There is hope’
WMO chief Petteri Taalas told reporters that “there is hope” to reverse the worrying concentration rates but underscored that the time to act was now.
“Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement,” Taalas said in a statement.
The historic agreement approved by 196 countries two years ago is facing renewed pressure following US President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the accord.
But nations are set to press on with the task of implementing it at climate talks in Bonn next week.
“The numbers don’t lie. We are still emitting far too much and this needs to be reversed,” the head of UN Environment Erik Solheim said in a statement, reacting to the new report.
“What we need now is global political will and a new sense of urgency.”
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin tracks concentrations of gasses in the atmosphere, rather than emissions with data compiled from a monitoring station in Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
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That’s a shame to hear. I used to love reading Montague’s poetry for the Leaving Cert and sure enough he showed when I needed him on the big day. A dolmen round my childhood. R.I.P.
The light, tarred skin
of the currach rides
and receives the current,
rolls and responds to
the harsh sea swell.
Inside the wooden ribs
a slithering frenzy; a sheen
of black-barred silver-
green and flailing mackerel:
the iridescent hoop
of a gasping sea trout.
As a fish gleams most
fiercely before it dies,
so the scales of the sea-hag
shine with a hectic
putrescent glitter:
luminous, bleached—
white water—
that light in the narrows
before a storm breaks. ………RIP John Montague
Hey diddle diddle The cat did a piddle, All over the kitchen mat, The little dog laughed to see such fun, And piddled all over the cat.
@michael o’brien
“The disappointed cat / Reflected in the glass / Reflects on where it’s at / And that it shall not pass.” I made up that one last week when the cat was trying to get out the kitchen window and I closed it in time. Suppose Poet’s Corner’s safe from us both Michael. RIP Mr Montague filíocht mór. Ar dheish Dé go raibh a anam.
@john o Driscoll,I like your poem John,I always liked poems that rhymed.No harm havin a bit of a sense of humour.
The rhymes the thing for many Michael. And a sense of humour carries us a long way past where we’d otherwise give up always. But beat and rhythm, imagery and sense don’t necessarily need to rhyme though they should always scan imo. Was thinking as I wrote that how the real cat in the kitchen appeared also to be outside on the window ledge at the same time (it being dark outside as in Country dark) as he gazed at his reflection, a photon cat observing a molecular cat or vice Versa.
And thought of calling the insta-ditty “An answer to Schrodinger” but immediately thought it pseud and overly clever-clogs and reading this haven’t changed opinion. That’s why great poets like Montague are great; regardless of rhyme or the absence there of. Their poetry is real, not pretentious or forced. It blows the heart wide open with apols to Mr Heaney.
I always found poetry difficult, until I discovered JOHN Montegue….you Sir, deciphered poetry for me, where others shrouded it in obscure meaning. For that, I THANK YOU. May you Rest In Peace.
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