Carbon Dioxide Concentrations Continue to Rise

The concentration of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas in our Earth’s atmosphere, averaged 417.1 parts per million, up 2.4 ppm from last year at this time.

One might hope that the lower emissions associated with the pandemic might help, but keep in mind that CO2 stays in the atmosphere for decades or centuries, and thus this had very little effect.

CO2 levels are now nearly 100 ppm higher than when measurements began in 1958; that’s a 31% increase in 62 years. representing a 0.4% average annual increase.  However, this rate of change is accelerating; last year’s 2.4 ppm increase was 0.6%.