Record carbon dioxide in the atmosphere despite the pandemic

The instruments of the Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawaii, United States), a world reference center in the field, marked on April 3 a new historical record of 421.21 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (_CO2) in the atmosphere.

Apart from this specific data, the global average concentration of this greenhouse gas (indicator of climate change) is marking historic levels this year, despite the fact that during the last year emissions from industry or vehicles with combustion engines have been slightly reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the data released this week by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, of the University of California at San Diego (United States).

The really important figure is that the average _CO2 in the atmosphere in March 2021 was 417.14 ppm, that is, 50% more _CO2 in the atmosphere than in the period 1750-1800 – a reference of the pre-industrial era, indicates the Scripps Institute.

The data analyzed in recent months by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States) indicate this same evolution.

For its part, the meteorological agency of the United Kingdom (Met Office), another of the world reference bodies in the field, predicts for this year that _CO2 concentrations will reach in May (month in which the annual maximums are usually recorded) a monthly average of 419.5 ppm.

The Keeling curve keeps going up

The Met Office recalls this week in a disclosure note on this phenomenon that “daily measurements [of CO concentration]₂ in the atmosphere] often fluctuate by a few ppm, around the monthly average, because winds displace air with CO concentrations.₂ higher or lower to the measurement sites.”

The concentration of this gas in the atmosphere is also influenced by seasonal natural processes, such as the increased uptake of carbon by ecosystems in the spring and summer period in the Northern Hemisphere.

The best overview of the problem is observed in the annual periods compared with the help of the graph known as the Keeking curve. This graphical exposition of data created by Charles David Keeling shows very clearly the increase in atmospheric concentrations of _CO2 and the parallelism of this phenomenon with the industrialization process.

“Continuous monitoring of the global carbon budget confirms that the increase in atmospheric _CO2 is caused entirely by human activity, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels with further contributions from deforestation,” the Met Office recalls this week.

“Since natural carbon sinks remove _CO2 from the atmosphere much more slowly than the rate of these emissions, _CO2 levels are continuously accumulating. Reducing emissions slows down the rate of accumulation, but does not stop it completely unless the total entry of _CO2 into the atmosphere reaches zero,” says the British centre specialising in meteorology and climate.

Source: The Vanguard