🔄FROM THE ARCHIVE The last time the CO2 concentration was at this level, seas were almost 80 feet higher than today.
Using indirect methods for determining levels of CO2 going back millions of years, scientists estimate that this is the highest concentration since a period known as the Pliocene Climatic Optimum, between 4.1 million and 4.5 million years ago. At that time, the globe's average temperature was roughly 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, andEven 'just' 10 feet of sea level rise would cause severe challenges in coastal areas around the world.
In 2019 — before the global coronavirus pandemic slowed economic growth — the world actually managed, just barely,into the atmosphere. That year, we humans emitted no more CO2 from burning of fossil fuels and other activities than we did the year before. It was a notable achievement attributable in large measure to closures of coal-burning power plants and rapid growth in the use of renewable energy., or 2.3 billion tons, thanks to COVID but also to continuing gains in use of renewable energy.
The annual up and down cycle of CO2 levels in the atmosphere over the past five years, plus the long-term upward trend, is seen in this graph based on measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. The red lines show the monthly mean values, centered on the middle of each month. The black lines show the same after correction for the average seasonal cycle. CO2 peaks each May, just before plant growth in the Northern Hemisphere starts drawing the gas out of the atmosphere.
Through it all, the atmosphere has barely noticed. According to NOAA, any impact on atmospheric CO2 stemming from last year's drop in emissions just was not discernable against the background of natural variability in CO2 levels caused by how plants and soils respond to weather, soil moisture, and other conditions.
"We ultimately need cuts that are much larger and sustained longer than the COVID-related shutdowns of 2020," said geochemist Ralph Keeling, who runs the Scripps program at Mauna Loa.
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