Climate Central notes that this is a sobering reminder to all of us that humans are pushing the climate into a state not seen for millions of years. The monthly average carbon dioxide level for the month of May 2017 was 409.65 parts per million. In May 2016, the CO2 average for May was 407.70 ppm.
Let’s look at the historical record going back a few years to understand the significance of this latest marker. Carbon dioxide levels at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii peak in May every year and the May reading serves as a benchmark to gauge future readings.
This is significant now because, in May 2013, the CO2 reading averaged out at 397.30 ppm. By May 2014, the CO2 level was 400.10 ppm. The carbon dioxide average for May in 2017 has jumped 9.5 ppm in three years.
The news came out just a day after President Donald Trump announced to the world he was pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, with complete disregard of the growing evidence of global warming from an administration that has shown little to no interest in addressing the issue, other than to say it is a hoax, reports Weather.com.
Even though plants will draw a few parts per million of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over the summer, make no mistake, anthropogenic climate change is pushing CO2 levels even higher. On Tuesday, April 18, 2017, the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere reached in excess pf 410 PPM at the Mauna Loa Observatory, making the reading the highest CO2 level ever recorded since 1958, when record keeping began.
And the UK Met Office scientists were spot on when they predicted what the May CO2 level would be this year when they issued their first carbon dioxide forecast.
Climate scientists and environmentalists are warning us that there is only so much more climate pollution we humans can add to our atmosphere before we surpass the 2.0 degrees Celsius mark, and it is approaching quickly. When we reach that mark, we will have created an atmosphere not seen on this planet in 50 million years.
