CO2 levels from record exceeded the critical threshold of 400 ppm - International Business Times Italy

Into After the first warnings issued last week, as expected, average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm) . It happened on May 9, as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of San Diego, Califronia.

Like us on Facebook

Into a new negative record that raises the concern of scientists who remember that during the last 800,000 years, the overall average level of CO2 has fluctuated between about 180 ppm during ice ages and interglacials and 280 ppm during warm periods, a figure reached in the 19th century before the outbreak of the industrial revolution. Then the world changed, or rather, the man and his activities have changed the world.

Into According to scientists, in fact, in the last ten years the rate of growth of CO2 levels reached 2.1 ppm per year, while at the end of 1958, when scientists began their measurements, the rate of growth was 0.7 ppm per year. Acceleration impetuous that scholars impute to ‘ human activity and especially the excessive use of fossil fuels .

Into passed the critical threshold of 400 ppm, it now remains to establish cossa happen in the near future. According to Ralph Keeling , geochemist at the Scripps Institu tion of Oceanography and the son of Charles David Keeling, one of the initiators of the measurements of carbon dioxide in 1958, climate issues are still under human control, but if you continue to rely on fossil fuels, the situation will only get worse.

Into “ The scientific community tells us that the excess CO2 in the atmosphere that we have will lead to a warmer world. – said Kim Carstensen , Head of Climate and Energy WWF Italy, last week when scientists announced that they had exceeded the threshold of 400 ppm was only matters of day- The last time the Earth’s atmosphere there was much CO2 as today, the world was 3-4 degrees Celsius warmer and warmer sea levels were 5 to 40 meters higher than the current one . ”

Into “ Globally -goes-Midulla communities and governments already struggling to respond to drought, poor harvests and extreme weather events, even in rich countries like the United States . If CO2 levels continue to rise will become increasingly difficult and unlikely to adapt to climate change “

Into For these reasons, the leader of WWF calls to set aside permanently fossil fuels and finally take the road of renewable energy. A necessary choice that they should take all governments, including the Italian, “ Who will move quickly and implement the energy turnaround in a timely manner, redesigning the economy on the basis regenerative and maximum efficiency, spend less and be leaders in the next future – Midulla-ends. The new government must listen to the scientists and economists more enlightened, escaping to the influences of old lobby that are condemning themselves and the country to the role of dinosaurs energy, instead of point to the future “

Steohanie Tunmore , an activist for the climate of Greenpeace International, reports on the website of that human activities are changing the conditions under which a civilization can be developed in a manner so sudden that it will be increasingly difficult to adapt in the future. Also according to the exponent of the environmentalist, the first responsible of this problem are fossil fuels and especially coal, responsible for two-thirds of the growth in emissions.

Into Yet change is possible: the activist quotes the document drawn up by Greenpeace Energy (R) Evolution in 2012 which is a complete program to dump the global economy from dependence on fossil fuels and cut emissions of CO2, without undermining energy security of individual states. For this Stephanie Tunmore ends his post by inviting local and international networks against fossil fuels to join in the hope that the movement for climate and clean energy solutions is stronger and acts faster than CO2 emissions.