| Atmosphere Monthly | June 2010 |
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Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (USA) Atmospheric CO2 was 392.94 parts per million (ppm) in May 2010, according to scientific data released June 7, 2010, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. Atmospheric CO2 was 390.18 ppm one year earlier in May 2009. 
capacity of the land and oceans to absorb it. The absorption of CO2 by oceans slows the rate of increase in atmosphere levels and raises the acidity of the oceans. |
Atmosphere Monthly is changing on the fly. This month, you will find more climate data than ever, plus a variety of other enhancements. It will take a few more months for the changes to settle down. At any time, feel free to comment on what is working for you, and what is not. Also, work has started on an upcoming Wish for Zero special edition. A few months from now, look for a special edition that will focus on what some leaders like Bill Gates are saying about the need and ways to get global emissions very close to zero. The coming Wish for Zero special edition is, in fact, inspired by Bill Gate's recent TED Talk called Innovating to Zero. You can hear him by watching the video that is embedded in the May 2010 edition of Atmosphere Monthly. Thank you for reading Atmosphere Monthly this month! |
CO2Now.org and Atmosphere Monthly deliver the most current data on Earth.
Mauna Loa Observatory (NOAA / Scripps data):
May 2010: 392.94 parts per million (ppm)
May 2009: 390.18
May 2008: 388.50
May 2007: 386.53
May 2006: 384.94
May 2005: 382.45
May 2004: 380.62
May 2003: 378.54
May 2002: 375.58
May 2001: 373.77
May 2000: 371.32
May 1990: 357.08
May 1980: 341.47
May 1970: 328.07
May 1960: 320.02
May 1958: 317.50
High-precision instrument readings started March 1958 at the Mauna Loa Observatory. To learn more about the discovery of CO2 measurements, read about Dr. Dave Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Data:
>> NOAA CO2 Trends [NOAA/Scripps data] [Scripps data]
>> Data Table (republished at CO2Now)
>> CO2 Rate of Change (processed at CO2Now)
Data for this Global Climate Update is gathered by a number of leading scientific institutions around the world. The summary is based on a more a detailed State of the Climate Global Analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. Other sources are cited with links.
Global Temperature: the warmest May since 1880
The global average surface temperature in May 2010 was 0.69°C above the global surface average of 14.8°C for May throughout the 20th century. In the past 131 years of temperature measurements for the month of May, the global average for May 2010 was the warmest. Global surface temperature includes land and ocean surface temperatures.
NOAA-NCDC | State of the Climate--Global Analysis for May 2010 [latest report]
CO2Now | Global Temperature Update
Climate Progress | Pakistan heatwave sets hottest temperature in Asia's history, 53.5°C
Business Week | World Is at Warmest on Record, NASA’s Hansen Says
Record high global temperature during the period with instrumental data was reached in 2010,” Hansen and three co- authors wrote in the paper. “As for the calendar year, it is likely that the 2010 global surface temperature in the GISS analysis also will be a record. [Business Week article, June 2, 2010]
Arctic Temperature: above average in May 2010
Arctic air temperatures averaged for May were above normal, continuing the temperature trend that has persisted since last winter. Temperatures were 2°C to 5°C above average across much of the Arctic Ocean.
NSIDC | News and Analysis posted June 8, 2010 [latest report]
NSIDC | Arctic Amplification
Arctic Sea Ice Extent: rapid decline in May 2010
The rate of decline through the month of May was the fastest in the satellite record; the previous year with the fastest daily rate of decline in May was 1980. By the end of the month, Arctic sea ice extent fell near the level recorded in 2006, the lowest in the satellite record for the end of May. Despite the rapid decline through May, average ice extent for the month was only the ninth lowest in the satellite record.
Arctic sea ice extent averaged 13.10 million square kilometers for the month of May, 500,000 square kilometers below the 1979 to 2000 average. The rate of ice extent decline for the month was -68,000 kilometers per day, almost 50% more than the average rate of -46,000 kilometers per day. This rate of loss is the highest for the month of May during the satellite record.
NSIDC | News and Analysis posted June 8, 2010 [latest report]
NSIDC | Quick facts on Arctic (and Antarctic) sea ice | Ice FAQs
NSIDC | Graph of Arctic Sea Ice Extent -- Updated Daily
Sato & Hansen | Sea Ice Area
How do we know the Earth's climate is warming?
Many lines of scientific evidence show that the Earth's climate is changing. Below, two excellent articles present key indicators of global climate change.
NOAA-NCDC | Global climate change indicators
Climate Progress | All the data you need to show that the world is warming
The responsibility of Mark Mykleby
Got any solutions? Afterall, it's up to you and me to fix this thing, right?
Rather than give you a hopeful article about someone else's leading edge research in solar energy, or their invesment in cloud geo-engineering, there is just one 'climate solutions article' this month. The idea is to redirect the spotlight back to, well, you and me.
Here's an opinion piece that Thomas Friedman presents in the New York Times. It was written following the start of the deepsea oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. (The gusher continues at this point, two months after its Earth Day blow out.) The message actually comes from Mark Mykleby who personally takes responsibility. Mykleby's article stands way out because it is so basic, so true and yet, is acknowledged far too often. The article contains no specific prescriptions. It simply creates a space to pause to reflect on how we can, one person at a time, start to switch over to the solution side. The process starts by thinking like Mykleby.
Global Climate Work Party on Sunday October 10, 2010
The crew at 350.org want you to pitch in on 10/10/10 to make it the biggest-ever day of real-world action to cut carbon around the planet.
They call it "A Day to Celebrate Climate Solutions." It is a day for us to work in our communities on projects that can cut CO2 emissions and build the clean energy future. But why stop there? It will also be a day to persuade leaders to pitch in themselves by passing strong climate policies and promoting clean energy. See you October 10th?
350.org | Clear your calendar now for 10/10/10
Calling Canadian App Developers
Write code to help end carbon pollution! Cash and prizes worth $40,000 are available. Only Canadian residents can submit an app. Anyone can vote. Submit entries by August 8, 2010. Register here to vote on submissions between August 11, 2010 and August 29, 2010. Check out the Rules yourself for more details, and to confirm that the information provided here is accurate and current. At any time, use British Columbia’s Climate Change Open Data Catalogue with data for BC, Canada and the world.
gov.bc.ca | BC App contest with open government data
gov.bc.ca | Press Release
Gov Fresh | Blog review of government app contests
CO2 Toaster pops up CO2 readings at “The Art of Science” exhibit
It is a pleasure to let you know that the CO2 Toaster widget is one of 38 pieces now on display at “The Art of Science” virtual exhibit. This online exhibit is presented in association with the June 2010 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Pacific Division, held in Ashland, Oregon, USA.
The CO2 Toaster widget is a collaborative work by Franke James, climate artist, Bill James, programmer and designer, and Michael McGee, creator of the CO2Now widgets and website. The widget displays atmospheric CO2 levels as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii and reported by NOAA-ESRL and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The toaster also displays 350 parts per million as the target humanity should be aiming for, accoring to James Hansen of NASA and other leading climate scientists.
The CO2 Toaster widget was originally launched as one of more than 5000 climate actions that happened on the same day around the world on October 24, 2009. The CO2 Toaster widget, like the CO2Now website and widgets, runs on servers powered directly by solar panels.
The Art of Science exhibit was made possible by the support of the following organizations:
· Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University
· Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts
· An anonymous friend of the “science arts”
Invitation to share your ideas about the NOAA Climate Service
How should the NOAA Climate Service engage with users and providers of climate information and services?
You are invited to answer this question by the US National Academy of Public Administration. From June 14 to June 28, 2010, join the dialogue at napaclimatedialogue.org to share your best ideas!
Just so you know, the global temperature data at CO2Now originates from the monthly State of the Climate Global Analysis that is part of the NOAA Climate Service. Like the NOAA and Scripps CO2 monitoring programs at the Mauna Loa Observatory, this is an excellent US-funded service of great benefit to people everywhere.
The Republic | The crisis comes ashore: Why the oil spill could change everything | Al Gore
The continuing undersea gusher of oil 50 miles off the shores of Louisiana (watch video) is not the only source of dangerous uncontrolled pollution spewing into the environment. Worldwide, the amount of man-made CO2 being spilled every three seconds into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet equals the highest current estimate of the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo well every day. Indeed, the average American coal-fired power generating plant gushes more than three times as much global-warming pollution into the atmosphere each day—and there are over 1,400 of them. Just as the oil companies told us that deep-water drilling was safe, they tell us that it’s perfectly all right to dump 90 million tons of CO2 into the air of the world every 24 hours.~ Al Gore
Click here to see a live stream of the gulf oil leak.
NY Times | While Oil Gushes, Invisible Ocean Impacts Build
Yale e360 | EIA predicts CO2 emissions could increase by 2035 if we don’t change
If the world’s major nations fail to enact significant changes in energy and climate policies, global carbon dioxide emissions will increase 43 percent by 2035, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA).
Columbia University | Draft paper by Hansen et al on Global Surface Temperature Change
We conclude that global temperature continued to rise rapidly in the past decade, despite large year-to-year fluctuations associated with the El Nino-La Nina cycle of tropical ocean temperature. Record high global temperature during the period with instrumental data was reached in 2010.Hansen et al. | June 1 2010
Climate Progress | Pakistan heatwave sets sets hottest temperature in Asia's history, 53.5°C
UNFCCC | Costa Rica’s Christiana Figueres appointed as UNFCCC Executive Secretary
350.org | Climate negotiations on track for catastrophic 4 degrees Celsius
BBC | UN Official warns of commercial fisheries destruction in 50 years
MNN | Bill Gates invests in a cloud factory
Climate Literacy | Starting June 21 2010
Portland Community College, USA | Understanding Climate Change
This non-credit, online course is open to anyone for a 25 USD fee. It is offered each quarter. The next course starts June 21 and goes until August 27. Click here to register.
Some registration tips: You will be asked for the CRN number (34300), and you will need to go through the entire registration at PCC to get a "G number". This is sometimes troubling to some, so you may also call Community Education at 503-788-6266 and they can lead you through this over the phone.
Education in Energy
Audible.com + Harvard | Fueling the Planet: The Past, Present and Future of Energy
Professor Michael B McElroy delivers a series of 14 lectures on energy at Harvard University. You can hear the lectures as a 2009 audiobook for about 20 USD. The study guide is available free in pdf format.
Antarctica Challenge: The Movie
Official Documentary Site | The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning
CO2Now.org and Atmosphere Monthly are produced by Pro Oxygen, an independent, Canadian enterprise. Pro Oxygen promotes carbon literacy and climate solutions for people and businesses around the world. The ultimate aim is to empower individuals and groups with information and tools that actually help 'fix the atmosphere.' In short, that means practical steps that can lead to carbon emissions cuts that are deep and fast enough to get CO2 falling back below 350 parts per million -- the upper safety limit for the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
You are invited to take a moment and check out these atmosphere-fixing tools:
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Treat these tools as your own. Feel free to share them widely. Stay tuned for more tools to come. If you have an extra minute,
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Data that is less than a year old is generally considered preliminary. This data is subject to adjustments by the institution that originally published the data. Whether the data is fresh or well aged, CO2Now presents source scientific data in its most current form. It does this without filters, rounding or processing. Much of the data that CO2Now features is generated by the following scientific institutions:
>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
>NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) [MLO CO2 Data] [CO2 Trends]
>NOAA National Climate Data Center (NCDC) [State of the Climate]
>Scripps Institution of Oceanography [CO2 Data]
> National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)
‘Green Liberty’ by Climate Artist Frank James (used with permission)
Photo of Polar Mesospheric Clouds, Southern Hemisphere by NASA Earth Observatory
'Climate action' photo cc 350.org with acknowledgement of students in Ghana
'Heron fishing at sunset' cc World through the Lens
All other images and artwork are licensed, copyright works or copyright Pro Oxygen. Email us for details or questions.
Link Suggestions:
- David Spratt, Melbourne, Australia
- Michael E. Schlesinger, Illinois, USA
- Pat Verma, British Columbia, Canada
- Jack Scott, Washington, USA
The direct and indirect contributions of scientiists, artists, concerned individuals and readers like you are graciously appreciated.
This edition of Atmosphere Monthly is proudly sponsored by Netscribe Communications Inc., maker of the Twavel iPhone app.
Atmosphere Monthly is distributed worldwide by email and online at CO2Now.org. It is the official newsletter for the CO2Now.org website. Atmosphere Monthly is published without subscription fees by Pro Oxygen of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Michael McGee, Editor
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Skype: michael_mcgee
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