MAY 31

The atmosphere over the Arctic has hit a troublesome milestone: the concentration of CO2 has surpassed 400 parts per million. Stations across the region in Alaska, Greenland, Norway and Iceland have recorded the measurements that have surged since the winter and spring have brought a decline in CO2-absorbing vegetation. While the downswing in carbon absorption happens every year, this is the first time in 800,000 years that the CO2 concentration anywhere in the world has been 400 ppm or above.

Before industrialization, global CO2 levels were about 280 ppm but in recent years global levels have reached as high as 395 ppm. The fact that any area of the globe has climbed above the 400 ppm mark concerns climate scientists that even with many countries rolling out carbon reduction measures, it's not making a difference fast enough.

Carnegie Institution ecologist Chris Field, a leader of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said, “It is an indication that we’re in a different world.”

To that end, scientists have recently discovered that the loss of Arctic summer ice and accelerated warming of that region are altering the jet stream, which is likely to increase extreme weather events around the world.

via Yale e360

Image via flickr user Polar Cruises

Comments (11)

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written by Chris, May 31, 2012

Neil: Perhaps you should take the time to actually read the source article. If you did you might find the links to the actual source of the new data which is the NOAA

http://researchmatters.noaa.gov/news/Pages/arcticCO2.aspx

The first station to hit 400 was at the NOAA observatory in Barrow Alaska. "Carbon dioxide at six other remote northern sites in NOAA’s international cooperative air sampling network also reached 400 ppm at least once this spring: at a second site in Alaska and others in Canada, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and an island in the North Pacific."

But never mind... keep believing the Anthony Watts and his band of idiots who think a new thermometer will make the problem disappear.

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written by Chris, May 31, 2012

And Terry: Climate is measured in multiple decades, not years. Yes, the warming has slowed, but the decade of 2000-2010 was still the warmest decade on record and there has not been nearly enough cooling to start any kind of trend dowward. In fact 2010 was tied with 2005 as warmest year on record.

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written by Robert Powell, June 01, 2012

If you look on the NASA website you will see that surface temperatures in the northern latitudes has risen much faster than central latitudes. In fact the survace temps in Alaska and Greenland have risen 5 degrees F. in the last thirty years. The NASA site also shows the rate of ice melts in the northern latitudes has also accelerated. The evidence of climate change is over-welming. And we are fast reaching the point of no return. Since CO2 remains in the atmosphere for at least a hundred years we can not just push a button and stop the warming. Now is the time for action if we want to have any chance of mitigating the effects of global warming.

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Think positive
written by Charles, June 02, 2012

Surely there are significant advantages to be obtained from this continued warming trend. In another generation it should be possible to open up the tundra areas to agriculture. There are vast areas of tundra in Alaska and Siberia which are completely wasted economically. Large scale agriculture in these regions would go a long way to offsetting the negative consequences of warming in other parts of the world.

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written by Stan, June 02, 2012

Comments such as Charles' concerning farming the tundra are well intentioned, but when the tundra thaws will we have a new agricultural bread basket like Ukraine or the U.S. midwest, or a gigantic bog? And what about the release of methane from thawing tundra?

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written by Christian, June 03, 2012

Charles The gain of new farming areas is offset by the loss of others. Look into Australia's agriculture. They have lost significant acreage.

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@Christian
written by Charles, June 04, 2012

I checked it out. Australia has not lost agricultural land due to climate change. Most losses occurred in the late 19th century due to improper land management practices resulting in top soil loss and introduction of noxious pests. Currently, the largest threat is coming from large scale coal mining and fracking under productive agricultural land.

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So CO2 Has Finally Started to Move Towards the Warming Period We're In
written by Richard Fletcher, June 07, 2012

I can't get past this rediculous assertion that CO2 has some bearing on global temperatures. If anything, they've been shown to trail global warming by several hundreds of thousands of years, so we're likely only now seeing the effects of this current warming we've been lucky to enjoy. Of probably more concern is WHAT WILL WE DO WHEN THE NEXT ICE AGE BEGINS, I hope you all have your food sources lined-up, better to gardening yourself.

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written by Tom Flittie, June 15, 2012

Correct me, Richard Fletcher, if I'm wrong. You are asserting that the current rise in CO2 which "appears" to correspond (in lock step) with current global warming is really the result of actual global warming that occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago, and that the current warming we are experiencing is something for us all (i presume you are addressing citizens of all the world) to enjoy.
Wow! Your wisdom and science knowhow is staggering. Please let us hear more.

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