Lava from the ongoing eruption at Mauna Loa is flowing close to the observatory. It's likely that the road or power lines to the site will be impacted soon shutting down the instrument.
Comment from Ralph Keeling, director of Scripps CO2 Program: “Every year it goes up like this we should be saying 'No, this shouldn’t be happening. It’s not normal." This increase is just not sustainable in terms of energy use and in terms of what we are doing to the planet.”
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the
#KeelingCurve
, a daily record of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This record is considered the foundation of modern climate change research. Check out
@Scripps_Ocean
today for more on what's happening.
411.66 February average CO2 concentration at Mauna Loa sets a new record for monthly average. It is rare, but not unprecedented, in Keeling Curve history that it is set in a February, well before the peak month of May.
At least an Arctic methane burp is unlikely. “It is a rare piece of good news about climate change,” says Scripps geoscientist Jeff Severinghaus, “so I’m happy to come to the public and say this burp is something we don’t have to worry about.”
The 415.09 ppm value that appeared as the daily baseline for 3-May-2019 on certain graphics over the weekend was based upon a partial days data and incorrectly released on the website. The correct value for that date based upon the full 24 hour period is 414.15 ppm
Congratulations
@NOAA
on your 50th anniversary! NOAA provides a home for the Keeling Curve, working side by side w/Scripps' CO2 program at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory in making complementary measurements of atmospheric
#CarbonDioxide
concentrations.
#ClimateChange
#NOAAat50
Comment from Ralph Keeling, director of Scripps CO2 Program: “The average growth rate is remaining on the high end. The increase from last year will probably be around three parts per million whereas the recent average has been 2.5 ppm....” 1/2
Ralph Keeling: "The recent all-time daily record at Mauna Loa is in line with jumps we've seen around this time in previous years. CO2 levels rise every year from
March through April as part of the normal seasonal trend which usually achieves a seasonal peak in May...." 1/2
Lisa Levin,
#SROCC
author and Scripps biological oceanographer: "By acting now, to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming to near 1.5oC we can retain the major life support functions of the ocean. If we do not, the next generation will face catastrophic losses."
#IPCC
Here's Dave Keeling in a 2002 interview recounting how his high-precision measurements of
#carbondioxide
started to change the way we perceive the world and our effect on it. For more history, see
@UCSanDiego
@ClimateUC
Projections have
#CO2
shooting past 440 ppm in 2030. But...“It’s still under our control to a large degree. Future damage is still going to be controlled by future emissions so we still have an important control knob,” says Ralph Keeling. 1/2
The rise of CO2 levels was probably slowed by the
#COVID19
economic slowdown but not to the degree that it is easily distinguished from natural variability, say researchers. A new record monthly peak was set in May.
May avg
#CO2
sets a new record at 414.83. Was 3.52 ppm higher than May 2018. The increase is just shy of the record year-over-year increase set in 2016 after a monster
#ElNi
ño season. Then it was 3.56 ppm higher than previous May.
"...This week’s new highs are daily fluctuations on top of this seasonal cycle. Each year we set new record highs due to continuing fossil fuel emissions, which raise the baseline every year. The changes in emissions from
#COVID
-19 are not large enough to
break this pattern." 2/2
After disruption by the recent eruption, air sampling for the Mauna Loa record was resumed in mid December. These sample are taken from the nearby Maunakea volcano. Values reported here will be from that location until further notice.