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Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 03:09 AM Jun 2012

Greenhouse gas levels pass symbolic 400ppm CO2 milestone

Monitoring stations in the Arctic detect record levels of carbon dioxide, higher than ever above 'safe' 350ppm mark

The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.

Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. The number isn't quite a surprise, because it's been rising at an accelerating pace.

Years ago, it passed the 350ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395.

So far, only the Arctic has reached that 400 level, but the rest of the world will follow soon.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/01/record-greenhouse-gas-trouble-scientists?newsfeed=true



The Arctic Ocean with leads and cracks in the ice cover of north of Alaska. Photograph: Courtesy Eric Kort/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA
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Greenhouse gas levels pass symbolic 400ppm CO2 milestone (Original Post) Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 OP
Glad we couldn't have kids... WCGreen Jun 2012 #1
This is the second article I've read on this since yesterday... Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #2
Natural gas was framed as clean and it's being built out at an incredible pace. joshcryer Jun 2012 #3
Even Rachel Maddow? Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #5
Because it would interfere with gas & oil profits. . . ProfessionalLeftist Jun 2012 #4
Well, there would be no profits if there was no world. Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #6
Yea that's the point these " geniuses" seem to miss. n/t ProfessionalLeftist Jun 2012 #7
You do understand that profits are the prima facie cause of climate degradation. GeorgeGist Jun 2012 #14
No one in power cares about long-term issues NickB79 Jun 2012 #15
And our previous president and his secretary of the interior Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #16
It has been and it is. kristopher Jun 2012 #8
Thanks for the reassuring information. Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #10
K & R dipsydoodle Jun 2012 #9
Maybe this was posted elsewhere. Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #11
It was posted later on Thursday in LBN dipsydoodle Jun 2012 #12
Terrific! I'll check it out! Rhiannon12866 Jun 2012 #13

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
2. This is the second article I've read on this since yesterday...
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 03:56 AM
Jun 2012

This is scary stuff, so why isn't it all over the news?!

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
3. Natural gas was framed as clean and it's being built out at an incredible pace.
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 04:25 AM
Jun 2012

The media is in the pockets of big fossil, so, there's nothing you can really do about it these days.

ProfessionalLeftist

(4,982 posts)
4. Because it would interfere with gas & oil profits. . .
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 05:04 AM
Jun 2012

... if it was publicized. So, it isn't. Because nothing else in this world is more important than corprat profits - including the world itself.

NickB79

(19,113 posts)
15. No one in power cares about long-term issues
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 07:32 PM
Jun 2012

All the "job creators" out there can't look beyond showing a profit on the next quarter's sheets to keep their investors happy. At best, they only look out a few years to when they can retire or move to another corporation for a bigger paycheck.

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
16. And our previous president and his secretary of the interior
Sun Jun 3, 2012, 12:18 AM
Jun 2012

Believed that there was no reason to preserve the planet for future generations, since there won't be anyone left here after The Rapture hoovers everybody up...

kristopher

(29,798 posts)
8. It has been and it is.
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 02:22 PM
Jun 2012

Don't let the naysayers get you down. There is a huge amount of work going on to move the world away from carbon, but it is a process that is going to require decades. If you go back to the 1990s and early 2000s and look at projections on deployment of renewables by agencies like the Dept of Energy you' d see that we are far ahead of the targets they were hoping to achieve in a planned response to AGW.

That doesn't mean we have this problem under control, by any means; but what it does tell us is that keeping the pressure on to deploy renewables is moving us faster towards a solution than playing Chicken Little.

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
10. Thanks for the reassuring information.
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 04:57 PM
Jun 2012

It sends me over the edge when I hear the idiotic ramblings of climate change deniers and Al Gore's hard work being made the butt of jokes. What possible good does it serve?! I will never forget what Bobby Kennedy Jr. said about Bush* and his climate denier comrades (including Sec. of the Interior, Gale Norton). He said that they believe there's no reason to preserve the earth for future generations because they don't think there'll be any, that the Rapture is imminent...

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
13. Terrific! I'll check it out!
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 06:14 PM
Jun 2012

I would have posted it in LBN, but I read the first article on Thursday, so it would have been embarrassing if I had to lock my own thread...

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