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January 2009
Focus on atmospheric CO2 | The data speaks for itself
Atmospheric CO2 in parts per million (ppm):
December 2008: 385.54
December 2007: 383.90
December 2006: 381.85
December 2005: 380.07
December 2004: 377.51
December 2003: 375.97
December 1998: 366.87
December 1988: 351.29
December 1978: 334.83
December 1968: 322.84
December 1958: 314.67
Highest "December CO2" in past 800,000 years
 Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (USA) Atmospheric CO2 reached 385.54 parts per million (ppm) in the month of December 2008, according to scientific data released January 12, 2009, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. It was 383.90 ppm in December 2007.
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas that fuels global warming and climate change. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased every December since the CO2 instrument record began at the Mauna Loa Observatory in 1958.
Talking 350 at the UN climate conference
 The major climate policy event of the year happened December 1 – 12, 2008, in Poznań, Poland. It was the last main conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) before the Copenhagen meeting in December 2009. That is when countries hope to agree on a treaty that will replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.
In the press releases out of Poznań, there is nothing to suggest that countries are about to adopt a target for atmospheric CO2, and there is no mention of a 350 ppm target. (A 2008 paper published by NASA climatologist James Hansen tells us that 350 ppm is the upper limit for safe concentrations of atmospheric CO2.) But for those who were looking for the articulation of a "350 vision" in Poznań, every mention of 350 stood out. Check out who was talking "350" in Poznań:
350.org | 49 Least Developed Countries Envision 350
350.org | Youth are leading the charge for survival
350.org | Al Gore Advocates for a new CO2 target of 350 ppm
AlGore.com | Al Gore’s Poznań Speech of December 12, 2008
Top climate stories of 2008
 When prolific blogger Joseph Romm puts together a list of top climate stories for 2008, there isn’t much need to look elsewhere. The link below takes you to an informed overview of 2008 developments in science, policy and public responses to our climate challenges.
Take note of story number five...a "solution story" that came out of nowhere in 2008. Looking ahead to 2009, could "350" be the top story for 2009? Might this atmospheric-scale target offer more social leverage to solve global warming than all the emissions targets negotiated in the lead up to Copenhagen? Time will tell.
Climate Progress | Top 10 climate stories of 2008
An update on Earth's climate system
 Scientific assessments of the changing climate were brought up to date in December 2008 when a synthesis and assessment report, Abrupt Climate Change, was transmitted from the US Climate Change Science Program to the United States President and Congress. This is the most significant update since the International Panel on Climate Change released its fourth assessment in February 2007, and the assessments are not improving.
CO2Now.org | Abrupt Climate Change Report
ClimateScience.gov | Abrupt Climate Change Brochure
Nature 's leading indicators
Economists use leading indicators - the drivers of economic performance - to take the temperature of the economy and predict the future. Now, in a new study, scientists take a page from the social science handbook and use leading indicators of the environment to presage the potential collapse of ecosystems. ...
Science Daily | Can Nature's indicators presage environmental disaster?
Students on Ice 2009
CO2Now.org is pitching in with a bit of financial support to help a University of Victoria graduate student participate in the Antarctic University Expedition 2009 that starts February 11, 2009. Read more about the expedition at CO2Now.org.
CO2Now.org | Students on Ice 2009
CO2 publication schedules
As of January 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) changed its target dates for publication of the latest monthly mean CO2 data from measurments made at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Instead of publication on the third day of the month, the target publication date has been extended until the tenth day of the month. From time to time, the actual publication date may be extended a few days beyond the target date.
It has been learned that the change was needed to enable sufficient checks and corroboration of the data prior to publication, and to avoid situations where significant adjustments would be needed after publication.
The change affects the timing of the CO2 updates made at the the home page of CO2Now.org, and at third-party websites that display the latest CO2 data with one of the current CO2 widgets that are hosted from CO2Now.org. (These updates are typically made within 6 hours of when NOAA releases the latest data, and almost always within 24 hours. This will continue despite the NOAA scheduling change.)
 For unrelated reasons, the January edition of Atmosphere Monthly was published more than two weeks after the NOAA updated the CO2 data on January 12, 2009. This was because the editor was focussed on producing a video for the YouTube Davos Debates in the lead up to the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The video advocates for the need to put an atmospheric CO2 target at the centre of our climate treaties and economic policies. A segment of the video was used by YouTube in a mashup video it created for delegates at the the 2009 World Economic Forum.
YouTube | Video: "Are we fixing fundamentals, or just pretending?"
YouTube | Mashup of replies to the 2009 Davos "environment" question
350.org | 350 in Davos?
themostimportantnumber.org | About the video and happenings in Davos
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