{"id":193236,"date":"2021-08-30T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T11:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=193236"},"modified":"2021-08-27T06:11:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T05:11:45","slug":"atmospheric-co2-levels-havent-been-this-high-in-800000-years-noaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/08\/atmospheric-co2-levels-havent-been-this-high-in-800000-years-noaa\/","title":{"rendered":"Atmospheric CO2 Levels Haven’t Been This High in 800,000 Years: NOAA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Based on contributions of more than 530 scientists from 60 countries, the latest report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found Earth’s atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and sea levels both hit record highs in 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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An evacuated resident points in the direction of his home following a flash flood, which came as Tropical Storm Henri made landfall, in Helmetta, New Jersey on August 22, 2021.
(Photo: Tom Brenner\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

25 Aug 2021 – <\/em>Bolstering the case for meaningful climate action, a major report released Wednesday found that Earth’s atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and sea levels both hit record highs in 2020.<\/p>\n

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“This situation is urgent, but it’s not hopeless. We have an opportunity to lead the global response in the fight against the climate crisis\u2014we cannot afford to waste it.”
\n\u2014Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson<\/p>\n

Based on the contributions of more than 530 scientists from over 60 countries and compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), State of the Climate in 2020<\/em><\/a> is the 31st installment of the leading annual evaluation of the global climate system.<\/p>\n

“The major indicators of climate change,” officials from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information pointed out<\/a> in a statement, “continued to reflect trends consistent with a warming planet. Several markers such as sea level, ocean heat content, and permafrost once again broke records set just one year prior.”<\/p>\n

“Annual global surface temperatures were 0.97\u00b0\u20131.12\u00b0F (0.54\u00b0\u20130.62\u00b0C) above the 1981\u20132010 average” in 2020, said NOAA, making last year one of the three warmest on record “even with a cooling La Ni\u00f1a influence in the second half of the year.”<\/p>\n

Last year was the warmest on record without an El Ni\u00f1o effect, and “new high-temperature records were set across the globe,” NOAA said. The agency added that the past seven years (2014-2020) had been the seven warmest on record.<\/p>\n

Although the coronavirus-driven economic slowdown resulted in an estimated 6% to 7% reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) emissions in 2020, the global average atmospheric concentration of CO2 <\/sub>increased to a record high of 412.5 parts per million. The atmospheric concentrations of other major greenhouse gases (GHG), including methane and nitrous oxide, also continued to climb to record highs last year despite the pandemic.<\/p>\n

According to NOAA, last year’s CO2 <\/sub>concentration “was 2.5 parts per million greater than 2019 amounts and was the highest in the modern 62-year measurement record and in ice core records dating back as far as 800,000 years.” Moreover, “the year-over-year increase of methane (14.8 parts per billion) was the highest such increase since systematic measurements began.”<\/p>\n

In addition, global sea levels continued to rise, surpassing previous records.<\/p>\n

“For the ninth consecutive year,” said NOAA, “global average sea level rose to a new record high and was about 3.6 inches (91.3 millimeters) higher than the 1993 average,” which is when satellite measurements began. As a result of melting glaciers and ice sheets, warming oceans, and other expressions of the climate crisis, the “global sea level is rising at an average rate of 1.2 inches (3.0 centimeter) per decade.”<\/p>\n

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The Defender<\/p><\/div>\n

Other notable findings of the new report include:<\/p>\n