Carbon dioxide and methane up sharply!
These two key greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere rose sharply in 2007, and carbon dioxide levels this year are literally off the chart, the US government reported today.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, rose by 0.6 per cent, or 19 billion tonnes last year. Reported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in ts annual index of greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of methane increased by 0.5 per cent, or 27 million tonnes, after nearly a decade of little or no change.
Methane’s greenhouse effect is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide’s, but there is far less of it in the atmosphere. Overall, methane has about half the climate impact of carbon dioxide.
The primary source of carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels, which is increasing, said Pieter Tans, who studies greenhouse gases at the laboratory. China was now the world’s biggest emitter, followed by the United States.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
[...] California Progress Report wrote an interesting post today on Carbon dioxide and methane up sharply!Here’s a quick excerpt…in Global Warming & Climate Change … . Atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, rose by 0.6… [...]
May 4th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Thanks for the comment.
I am just back from Melbourne where I attended the Caron Trading Expo. The whole thing is a mess. The first 300 companies must start mandatory reporting in this country (Australia) on July 1 with their reports based on real data. The data will eventually be put on public view. The methods are woolly still
Interesting but necessary times!