Atmospheric CO2 Is At A Record Level (& Still Climbing)

The following is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanographyoffsite link at the University of California San Diego announced today.

Scientists at Scripps, the organization that initiated CO2 monitoring at Mauna Loa in 1958 and maintains an independent record, calculated a May monthly average of 426.7 ppm for 2024, an increase of 2.92 ppm over May 2023’s measurement of 423.78 ppm. For Scripps, the two-year jump tied a previous record set in 2020.

From January through April, NOAA and Scripps scientists said CO2 concentrations increased more rapidly than they have in the first four months of any other year. The surge has come even as one highly regarded international reportoffsite link has found that fossil fuel emissions, the main driver of climate change, have plateaued in recent years.

“Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Now we are finding that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing faster than ever. We must recognize that these are clear signals of the damage carbon dioxide pollution is doing to the climate system, and take rapid action to cut fossil fuel use as quickly as we can.” 

Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO2 program that manages the institution’s 56-year-old measurement series, noted that year-to-year increase recorded in March 2024 was the highest for both Scripps and NOAA in Keeling Curve history. 

“Not only is CO2 now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever,” said Keeling. “Each year achieves a higher maximum due to fossil-fuel burning, which releases pollution in the form of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel pollution just keeps building up, much like trash in a landfill.” 

The U.S. Just Had Its Warmest Winter On Record

From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

A very mild February wrapped up a record-warm winter for the U.S., according to experts from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

The average temperature across the contiguous U.S. last month was 41.1 degrees F, 7.2 degrees F above the 20th-century average and ranking as the third-warmest February in NOAA’s 130-year climate record. Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin each had their warmest February on record. An additional 20 states saw their top-10 warmest February on record. 

Persistent winter warmth resulted in a steady decrease in ice coverage across the Great Lakes, which reached a historic low of 2.7% on February 11 — the lowest amount of ice coverage on record during mid-February.

Meteorological winter was the warmest winter on record for the contiguous U.S., with an average temperature of 37.6 degrees F — 5.4 degrees above average. Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin each had their warmest winter on record. Twenty-six additional states saw their top-10 warmest winters on record. 

Four Takeaways From The New NOAA Sea Level Report

 These are the four key takeaways from the 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Atmospheric CO2 At Highest Level In Last 3 Million Years

(This image was found at slideshare.net.)

A few days ago, I told you about the fact that January of 2020 was the hottest month since records have been kept (about 141 years). Now we learn of an even more frightening statistic. A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report says there is now more CO2 in the atmosphere than in the last 3,000,000 years.

We simply cannot afford to keep the climate-denying Republicans in control of the White House or Congress any longer. We are running out of time, and more delay in addressing global climate change (global warming) will be disastrous. We are already past the point where we could have prevented significant climate change. But we can still mitigate the damage if we act quickly.

Here is part of what Jordan Davidson at EcoWatch reports about the NOAA report:


According to a recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report, the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high was 3 million years ago "when temperature was 2°–3°C (3.6°–5.4°F) higher than during the pre-industrial era, and sea level was 15–25 meters (50–80 feet) higher than today."

That period, the Pilocene Era, is unrecognizable from today. Giant camels walked around on the ice-free land above the Arctic Circle, as NBC News reported.

Earth first passed the 400 million parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2013. Rather than take it as a dire warning, we have become inured to that level of concentration and have seen it rise slightly in subsequent years. In 2018, the concentration was 407.4 parts per million (ppm), according to NOAA. This year, CO2 concentrations are predicted to peak at 417 ppm, according to NBC News.

That level will put humans in new, unfamiliar territory. "For millions of years, we haven't had an atmosphere with a chemical composition as it is right now," said Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, to NBC News.

In fact, just two weeks ago, on Feb. 10, NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory, an atmospheric baseline station in Hawaii, recorded the daily average of CO2 levels on as 416.08 parts per million, according to Common Dreams.

Carbon Dioxide concentrations are an effective measure of how many fossil fuels we are burning. Coal and crude oil contain carbon that plants have pulled out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis over million of years. However, in short order, human activity has returned that trapped carbon back into the atmosphere, as NOAA reported. . . .

Elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide are a hallmark of the climate crisis since they are associated with higher temperatures, melting ice and sea level rise, among other effects. . . .

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also notable for its contribution to ocean acidification. According to NOAA, when CO2 reacts with water molecules, it produces carbonic acid and lowers the ocean's pH. Already, the ocean's surface pH has dropped from 8.21 in pre-industrial times to 8.10.

"The rate of rise in the last decade has been faster than previous decades," said Betts, as NBC Newsreported. "We're just tracking ever onwards, and 400 ppm is now a distant memory."

NOAA To Investigate False Statement Supporting Trump

You've probably heard about Donald Trump using a sharpie to change a map regarding the path of Hurricane Dorian. He did it because he was embarrassed about telling Americans that Alabama was in danger of being hit by the hurricane.

He could have just admitted he made a mistake, but his narcissism wouldn't let him do that. Instead, he demanded that Mulvaney instruct Secretary Ross to make the NOAA back him up about Alabama. They had already released an official statement saying Trump was wrong, and they never said Alabama was in danger.

Evidently Ross was effective in his threats to someone at NOAA, because they released an unsigned statement saying Trump was right.

That false statement angered the employees at NOAA. It also upset Assistant Administrator of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Craig N. McLean (pictured). He wrote a letter to NOAA employees, assuring them that the false statement was not official -- and promising them that he would investigate the release of that false statement. Here is his letter:

Dear Colleagues,

The fierce storm we know as Hurricane Dorian has concluded its ferocious path through the Bahamas and along the U.S. East Coast. Many of you have contributed to the excellent science that has underpinned the forecasts and current understanding of storms such as this one, which accelerated quite rapidly in intensity. The storm also presented challenges in track which improved with enhanced observations. We know that our collective work, from the scientists in the aircraft penetrating the storm, to the scientists deploying the glider picket line, to the modelers and folks working the physics of the storms, across OAR and in our CI'S, and across all NOAA Lines, we are working the problem in order to give the NWS forecasters the best tools we possibly can to keep America and our neighbors safe. Thank you. 

During the course of the storm, as I am sure you are aware, there were routine and exceptional expert forecasts, the best possible, issued by the NWS Forecasters. These are remarkable colleagues of ours, who receive our products, use them well, and provide the benefit of their own experience in announcing accurate forecasts accompanied by the distinction of all credible scientists—they sign their work. As I'm sure you also know, there was a complex issue involving the President commenting on the path of the hurricane. The NWS Forecaster(s) corrected any public misunderstanding in an expert and timely way, as they should. There followed, last Friday, an unsigned press release from "NOAA" that inappropriately and incorrectly contradicted the NWS forecaster. My understanding is that this intervention to contradict the forecaster was not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political. Our NOAA Scientific Integrity Policyand Code of Scientific Conduct make clear that all NOAA employees shall approach all scientific activities with honesty, objectively, and completely, without allegiance to individuals, organizations, or ideology. The content of this press release is very concerning as it compromises the ability of NOAA to convey life-saving information necessary to avoid substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. If the public cannot trust our information, or we debase our forecaster's warnings and products, that specific danger arises. 

You know that the value of our science is in the complexity of our understanding, our ability to convey that understanding to a wide audience of users of this information, and to establish and sustain the public trust in the truth and legitimacy of that information. Unfortunately, the press release of last Friday violated this trust and violated NOAA's policies of scientific integrity. In my role as Assistant Administrator for Research, and as I continue to administratively serve as Acting Chief Scientist, I am pursuing the potential violations of our NOAA Administrative Order on Scientific Integrity. Thankfully, we have such policies that are independently cited as among the best in the federal community, if not the best. Your NOAA and OAR management and leadership team believes in these policies and principles. I have a responsibility to pursue these truths. I will.

Thank you for your continued excellent work, and your trust. Carry on.

Global Warming Continues In Spite Of GOP Denials

Donald Trump and his Republican cohorts continue to deny the reality of global warming (global climate change), but nature doesn't listen to them. Global warming continues.

Here is part of the latest report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

October 2018 was characterized by warmer-than-average temperatures across much of the world's land and ocean surfaces. The most notable warm temperature departures from average were observed across the Northern Hemisphere, specifically central and eastern Russia and Alaska, where temperatures were 5.0°C (9.0°F) above average or higher. Record warm temperatures were observed in these areas, but also in the Barents Sea, the Bering Strait, the waters along the eastern coast of the contiguous U.S., and across parts of Africa, the southern Atlantic Ocean, and northern Australia. Near- to cooler-than-average conditions were present across much of North America, Greenland and its surrounding ocean, parts of southern Asia, eastern Indian Ocean, and southern Atlantic Ocean. The most notable cool temperature departure from average was observed across much of Canada and parts of the contiguous U.S., where temperatures were 1.0°C (1.8°F) below average or lower.

According to NCEI's Regional Analysis, four of six continents had an October temperature that ranked among the four highest for October since regional records began in 1910. Of note, Asia and Europe had their third highest October temperature on record at 1.65°C (2.97°F) and 1.67°C (3.01°F) above average, respectively. Oceania had its fourth highest October temperature on record. South America and Africa had their ninth and tenth highest on record, respectively. Meanwhile, North America's October temperature was 0.07°C (0.13°F) below average, marking the first time October temperatures were below average since 2009. Regionally, the Caribbean Islands, the Atlantic Main Development Region (MDR), and the East North Pacific had their coolest October since 2008, 2001, and 2013, respectively. The Gulf of Mexico had its second highest October temperature (tied with 1941) at 1.05°C (1.89°F) above average, which is 0.40°C (0.72°F) less than the record set in 2016. The Hawaiian region had third warmest October since 1910 at 0.94°C (1.69°F) above average. The warmest October for the Hawaiian region was set in 1968 at 1.23°C (2.21°F) above average and 2015 ranks as the second warmest October at 1.21°C (2.18°F).

Averaged as a whole, the temperature across the global land and ocean surfaces was 0.86°C (1.55°F) above the 20th century average and placed as the second highest October temperature since global records began in 1880. The record warm October was set in 2015 at +0.99°C (+1.78°F). This marks the 42nd consecutive October and the 406th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average.

The globally-averaged land-only surface temperature during October 2018 was 1.24°C (2.23°F) above the 20th century average and was also the second highest October in the 139-year record, trailing behind 2015 by 0.10°C (0.18°F). The global oceans temperature tied with 2016 as the second highest October temperature since global records began in 1880 at 0.72°C (1.30°F) above average. This value is 0.15°C (0.27°F) less than the record set in 2015.

Oceans Warming Nearly Twice As Fast As Expected

(Photo is from oceanservice.noaa.gov.)

The following article is by Samantha Page at Think Progress:

Apparently, research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) isn’t all a sham.

A new study confirms that when NOAA scientists recalculated the ocean’s warming — finding that over the past 18 years, ocean temperatures have increased 0.22°F (0.12° C) increase per decade, rather than the previously thought .13°F (0.07° C) per decade — they were right.

The original findings, published in Science in 2015, came under intense scrutiny — not from other scientists, but from politicians. Specifically, the scientists involved in the study were targeted in a House Science, Space, and Technology Committee investigation, headed by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). . . .

In fact, not only is there no evidence of a conspiracy to produce politically popular data, the earth’s oceans are, in fact, warming nearly twice as fast as previously thought. . . .

The new study confirming NOAA’s conclusion, published in Science on Wednesday by independent scientists based at the University of California Berkeley, broke out the data in a different way, allowing researchers to more clearly identify temperature changes.

Specifically, they found that data from ships wasn’t accurately reflecting the change in ocean temperatures.

The problem with NOAA’s pre-2015 conclusion came from the fact that the ocean’s temperature is recorded in several different ways. There are research buoys, satellite readings, special devices known as Argo floats, which sit slightly below the water’s surface, emerging every 10 days with new data, and ship records, which generally are read at intake valves in ship engine rooms.

But different data collection methods come up with different readings, Zeke Hausfather, the study’s lead author, told ThinkProgress.

For years, NOAA used a formula that weighted boat and buoy data the same (until 2014’s infamous recalculation). But because boats have changed — cargo ships are bigger, for starters — it seems that the data coming from the boats wasn’t accurately capturing the change in water temperatures.

“A lot of this [apparent global warming] pause seems to be caused by the change in our data collection in ships,” he said. In fact, many scientists agree that NOAA’s work was instrumental in disproving the “global warming pause” theory that had attracted the attention of climate science deniers.

Think of NOAA data collection like using a tree to calculate wind speeds. If you use 10-foot trees for 30 years, then slowly start including data from 50-foot trees, your data set will not be as accurate as it would be if you had used the same height tree the whole time. In fact, you might see a big uptick in wind speeds, even when no change in wind took place. (Wind speeds at the tops of 50-foot trees will be significantly higher than at the tops of 10-foot trees.)

Meanwhile, though, you have kites that fly at a consistent 40-foot height, all the time, everywhere. That data is consistently collected and more easily comparable across locations and time.

Wouldn’t it make sense to only compare kite data to kite data?

That’s exactly what Hausfather and his colleagues did. They analyzed NOAA’s data in chunks: buoy data, satellite data, and Argo data.

“We looked at three independent, separate sets of data,” Hausfather said. “They all agree with the new NOAA record.”

Land And Ocean Temperatures Set Heat Records In June

(Image is from the new report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)

The global warming denials of congressional Republicans becomes more ludicrous with each passing month -- and it becomes more obvious that their denial is not based on any facts, but instead on trying to protect giant corporations from having to spend any money to protect the environment from their pollution.

The new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the world is still warming -- and set records in June once again. This is not from some anonymous foreign environmental group. The NOAA is a U.S. government agency that is interested only in facts -- not politics. Here is what they say happened in June and in the period from January through June:

Global highlights: June 2015

• During June, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.58°F (0.88°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set last year in 2014 by 0.22°F (0.12°C).
• The June globally-averaged land surface temperature was 2.27°F (1.26°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2012 by 0.11°F (0.06°C).
• The June globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 1.33°F (0.74°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set last year in 2014 by 0.11°F (0.06°C)

  Global highlights: Year-to-date (January–June 2015

  During January–June, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.53°F (0.85°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for January–June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.16°F (0.09°C).
• During January–June, the globally-averaged land surface temperature was 2.52°F (1.40°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for January–June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2007 by 0.23°F (0.13°C).
• During January–June, the globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 1.17°F (0.65°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for January–June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.07°F (0.04°C)