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 Atmospheric CO2 is accelerating upward from decade to decade.
For the past ten years, the average annual rate of increase is 2.07 parts per million (ppm). This rate of increase is more than double the increase in the 1960s.
See the table below.
Decade Total Increase Annual Rate of Increase
2003 – 2012 20.74 ppm 2.07 ppm per year
1993 – 2002 16.73 ppm 1.67 ppm per year
1983 – 1992 15.24 ppm 1.52 ppm per year
1973 – 1982 13.68 ppm 1.37 ppm per year
1963 – 1972 9.00 ppm 0.90 ppm per year
Before the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, global average CO2 was about 280 ppm. During the last 800,000 years, CO2 fluctuated between about 180 ppm during ice ages and 280 ppm during interglacial warm periods. Today’s rate of increase is more than 100 times faster than the increase that occurred when the last ice age ended.
~ NOAA Media Release "Carbon Dioxide...Tops 400 ppm" (2013)
Source Data:
Data is calculated by CO2Now using measurements of the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere (Mauna Loa Observatory) that were made and posted by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's CO2 Program.
Related Information:
CO2Now | Data for atmospheric CO2 (Mauna Loa Observatory)
CO2Now | Global carbon emissions
CO2Now | Annual CO2 concentrations
CO2Now | Global temperature
CO2Now | The Climate Sheet: More "Big Picture" Data |
