415 & counting

As my loyal readers know, climate change is a pretty big deal with BRT as it's a rather serious issue regarding the survivability of us as we mover further into the 21st century. With this in mind, consider the "achievement" of us rubes on reaching 415 parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere thanks to fossil fuel production and what it portends for an overcrowded planet complete with environmental degradation and resource depletion. Comforting is it not?

The human race has broken another record on its race to ecological collapse. Congratulations humanity!

For the first time in human history — not recorded history, but since humans have existed on Earth — carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has topped 415 parts per million, reaching 415.26 parts per million, according to sensors at the Mauna Loa Observatory, a research outpost of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency.

The Keellng Curve

Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Hits Record High Monthly Average

In Daily Measurements, Measurement Notes by Rob MonroeMay 2, 2018

April monthly average exceeds 410 parts per million for the first time in recorded history

The Keeling Curve draws its name from its creator and the shape of its dataset, a seasonally seesawing trend of steadily rising CO2 readings that exceeded 400 ppm in air for the first time in human history in 2013. Prior to the onset of the Industrial Revolution, CO2  levels had fluctuated over the millennia but had never exceeded 300 ppm at any point in the last 800,000 years.

Carbon dioxide is called a greenhouse gas for its ability to trap solar radiation and keep it confined to the atmosphere. It is the most prevalent among all greenhouse gases produced by human activities, attributed to the burning of fossil fuels.

The Scripps CO2 Program is directed by geochemist Ralph Keeling,the son of the late Keeling Curve creator Charles David Keeling

“We keep burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide keeps building up in the air,” said Ralph Keeling. “It’s essentially as simple as that.”

Just think, we haven't even discussed the accelerating release of methane in Russia and Canada, a CO2 variant  84 times more efficient in trapping heat than CO2 or the conversion of the Arctic from heat reflector to heat sink thanks to the loss of Albedo,  a key component of ice that has kept this planet cool for millennia prior to the arrival of us humans.