The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration measured at the Mauna Loa observatory averaged 410.31 ppm for the month of April, 2018, marking the first monthly average above 410 ppm for over 800,000 years. The atmospheric CO2 concentration has now increased 30% since CO2 measurements at Mauna Loa started in 1958, and over 40% since before the Industrial Revolution.
The build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels traps ever greater amounts of heat from the sun, driving global climate change.
“We keep burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide keeps building up in the air. It’s essentially as simple as that.”
-Ralph Keeling, geochemist and Director of the Scripps CO2 Program
Read more from the scientists who perform the measurements.
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