Science 324 - 19 June 2009 - Atmospheric CO2 At Highest Level In 2.1 Million Years

[hatrack]

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are higher than any point in the last 2.1 million years, report researchers writing in the journal Science.

Analyzing the shells of single-celled plankton buried under the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, Bärbel Hönisch, a geochemist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and her colleagues dtermined that peak CO2 levels over the last 2.1 million years averaged only 280 parts per million. By comparison current CO2 levels stand at 385 parts per million, or 38% higher than the long-term peak.

EDIT

"Previous studies indicated that CO2 did not change much over the past 20 million years, but the resolution wasn't high enough to be definitive," said Hönisch. "This study tells us that CO2 was not the main trigger, though our data continues to suggest that greenhouse gases and global climate are intimately linked."

EDIT/END

B. Hönisch et al. Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration Across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. SCIENCE VOL 324 19 JUNE 2009

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0618-co2.html

[Buzz Clik]

1. Silly hatrack. Are you unaware of the benefits of high CO2 in the atmosphere?

Educate yourself by going here: junkscience.com


(:puke:)

[pscot]

2. Well that proves it

We're in one of those natural cycles that happens all the time.