Post by MooseNugget on Apr 13, 2019 2:33:19 GMT
The last time carbon dioxide levels were this high, Greenland was mostly green, sea levels were up to 20 meters higher and trees grew on Antarctica, according to scientists who warned this week that there is more CO2 in our atmosphere today than in the past three million years.
Using a new computer simulation, researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), in Germany, found that the last time the earth's atmosphere had a CO2 concentration as high as today's was during the Pliocene epoch, the geological period 2.6-5.3 million years ago.
CO2 emissions from human activities are the leading cause of climate change.
he amount of CO2 in the atmosphere today is "unnatural", lead-author Matteo Willeit told CNN.
Willeit said that according to the simulation CO2 levels should not be higher than 280 parts per million (ppm) without human activity, but that they are currently 410 ppm and rising.
Global mean temperatures are rising much faster than any time since the Pliocene, Willeit added.
In that time they have never exceeded pre-industrial levels by more than 2°C, but current models show that temperatures will rise by 4°C between 2000 and 2100 if steps are not taken to slash emissions, he said.
Using a new computer simulation, researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), in Germany, found that the last time the earth's atmosphere had a CO2 concentration as high as today's was during the Pliocene epoch, the geological period 2.6-5.3 million years ago.
CO2 emissions from human activities are the leading cause of climate change.
he amount of CO2 in the atmosphere today is "unnatural", lead-author Matteo Willeit told CNN.
Willeit said that according to the simulation CO2 levels should not be higher than 280 parts per million (ppm) without human activity, but that they are currently 410 ppm and rising.
Global mean temperatures are rising much faster than any time since the Pliocene, Willeit added.
In that time they have never exceeded pre-industrial levels by more than 2°C, but current models show that temperatures will rise by 4°C between 2000 and 2100 if steps are not taken to slash emissions, he said.
edition.cnn.com/2019/04/04/health/co2-levels-global-warming-climate-intl/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2019-04-05T05%3A01%3A07&utm_source=twCNN