The main US climate agency said Friday that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in May were 50 percent higher than in the pre-industrial era, which had not been seen on Earth for nearly four million years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated that global warming caused by humans, especially through the production of electricity using fossil fuels, transportation, production of cement, or even deforestation, will reach new heights. is responsible for.
May is usually the month with the highest carbon di oxide level every year.
In May 2022, the limit of 420 parts per million (ppm) – a unit of measurement used to measure pollution in the atmosphere – was exceeded.
The rate was 419 ppm in May 2021 and 417 ppm in 2020.
The measurements are taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, ideally located high on the volcano, which allows it to avoid the potential impact of local pollution.
before industrial RevolutionAccording to NOAA, CO2 levels held steady at around 280 ppm, a level that remained for about 6,000 years of human civilization, which preceded industrialization.
This level is now comparable to levels between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago, when CO2 levels were close to or higher than 400 ppm, the agency said in a statement.
At that time, the sea level was five to 25 meters higher than it is now, enough to submerge many of today’s major cities. According to studies, large forests have also occupied parts of the Arctic.
CO2 is a green house gas Which traps the heat, gradually causing global warming. It lives in the atmosphere and oceans for thousands of years.
Its warming effect is already producing dramatic consequences, notable NOAA, including the multiplication of heat waves, droughts, fires or floods.
“Carbon dioxide is at a level our species has never experienced before – this is nothing new,” said scientist Peter Tans of the Global Monitoring Laboratory.
“We’ve known about it for half a century, and have failed to do anything meaningful about it. What do we have to do to wake up?”
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.