Story at a glance
- NOAA and Scripps researchers announced a record carbon pollution high of 419 parts per million in May.
- The level of carbon pollution in the atmosphere has steadily risen since the 1970s.
- Fossil fuel reduction is key to alleviating carbon emissions and climate change.
The volume of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps sunlight in the atmosphere and leads to the planet heating past normal temperatures, peaked in May, recording a monthly average of 419 parts per million (ppm).
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography made the joint announcement on Monday, based on findings measured at the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory.
This is up from 417 ppm recorded one year ago in May 2020. The volume of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has consistently increased since researchers began tracking the pollution in 1974.
“We are adding roughly 40 billion metric tons of CO2 pollution to the atmosphere per year,” said Pieter Tans, a senior scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory. “That is a mountain of carbon that we dig up out of the Earth, burn, and release into the atmosphere as CO2 – year after year. If we want to avoid catastrophic climate change, the highest priority must be to reduce CO2 pollution to zero at the earliest possible date.”
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The May peak in carbon dioxide emissions was slightly lower than seen in other year-over-year differences, potentially due to the pandemic halting travel and business operations, which in turn resulted in less carbon emissions.
The largest monthly values in carbon dioxide are usually recorded near May, just before plants begin to grow and remove carbon from the atmosphere in the production of oxygen.
Carbon dioxide is generated and emitted through burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil drilling, transportation, and certain manufacturing processes. These emissions make up 80 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted by the U.S., with methane being the second most common greenhouse gas at 10 percent.
Researchers also noted that with this increase, the atmospheric burden of carbon dioxide pollution is now close to levels seen during the Pliocene Climatic Optimum, which took place about 4.1 million to 4.5 million years ago. During this time, atmospheric carbon dioxide was nearly at 400 ppm and temperatures were roughly 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than those of preindustrial times.
Efforts to cut down carbon emissions are being debated as President Biden pushes his infrastructure plan, which focuses on making American roadways and transit systems more sustainable. Reducing fossil fuel consumption among businesses and households is critical to keeping temperatures from rising to the point of unsustainable levels.
“The solution is right before our eyes,” Tans said. “Solar energy and wind are already cheaper than fossil fuels and they work at the scales that are required. If we take real action soon, we might still be able to avoid catastrophic climate change.”
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