Carbon Dioxide

I read an article this morning on the newest measurements of Carbon Dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (you can find the BBC article, based on a World Meteorological Organization report here).

I know I don't usually talk about "work" related things on my blog. But this is less work and more world problem. Here is a graph from co2now.org of atmosphere carbon dioxide since 1958...




This to me, is quite shocking. Since I started my undergraduate degree in meteorology in 2001, CO2 has increased about 20 parts per million. I vividly remember being shown in various classes that CO2 concentration was 370 ppm and using that number in exams. Now it is OVER 390 ppm.

CO2 isn't a gas that we emit and then disappears quickly. It sticks around in the atmosphere for years (some estimates are up to 200 years). SO, if we want to mitigate the impact of CO2 on changing the climate and warming the earth we need to start stabilizing CO2. This means emitting less. A lot less.

Just think about it. I really need to start riding my bike more.