London, Europe Brief News- The atmospheric CO2 level in May was 50 percent higher than during the pre-industrial era, raising fears about climate change.
Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached levels not seen on Earth for about four million years.
Climate change caused by humans, particularly through the production of electricity using fossil fuels, transport, the production of cement, or even deforestation, is responsible for the new high, the NOAA said.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps heat, gradually causing global warming. It remains in the atmosphere and oceans for thousands of years.
Its warming effect is already causing dramatic consequences, noted NOAA, including the multiplication of heatwaves, droughts, fires or floods.
“Carbon dioxide is at levels our species has never experienced before – this is not new,” said Pieter Tans, a scientist with the Global Monitoring Laboratory at NOAA.
“We have known about this for half a century, and have failed to do anything meaningful about it. What’s it going to take for us to wake up?”
The level now is comparable to what it was between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago, when CO2 levels were near or above 400ppm, the NOAA said.
At that time, sea levels were between five and 25 metres higher than now, high enough to submerge many of today’s major cities. Large forests also occupied parts of the Arctic, according to studies.
