CO2 Now

My name is Michael McGee.  I launched what I call "Earth's CO2 Home page" in December 2007 to make it easier to get reliable information about atmospheric CO2 levels and trends, and about what they mean. 

At the site, you get the world's most current CO2 data from scientific sources without filters or barriers.  Consider the site your direct connection to what's happening in the atmosphere, right now.  When you can see the trends with atmospheric gases, CO2 in particular, it is easier to see the overall direction for global warming and climate change -- despite their natural variability.  

Understanding atmospheric CO2 is a first step for people and organizations that aim to be on the "solution side" of planet-sized problems like global warming, climate change and ocean acidification.  This is not a "good news" website, but it presents reliable information that we need to know if we are going to collectively avoid a lot of bad experiences in the future. 

As for me, I would describe myself as an informed lay person.  Before I started posting CO2 data online, I knew very little about carbon cycles and greenhouse gases.  Running the site is an educational journey.  I have learned a great deal from studying the raw data, various scientific reports and papers, informed media articles and blogs, and through conversations with a few climate scientists.  I am grateful for the time that people have given to my education.  This includes the content that dozens of people have provided for posting at CO2Now.org.  

When I am not working on a project related to atmospheric CO2, I am a husband and father with two boys in Victoria, Canada.  I am also a policy and communications manager for a government tribunal with a mandate that is not related to climate matters.  For close to a decade, I have been a member of the British Columbia Council of Administrative Tribunals.  

Feel free to get in touch and talk about getting atmospheric CO2 back to safe levels. 

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Starting December 2009, Atmosphere Monthly, the newsletter for CO2Now.org, includes a short-list of about 10 exceptional carbon media articles from sources around the world.   This monthly list is mostly generated by selecting articles from the top picks that are found in the weekly Climate Change Media list created by David Spratt, head of Carbon Equity of Australia.   Carbon Equity is a climate change education and advocacy NGO based in Melbourne, Australia.   This NGO starts with the premise that global warming policies must be constructed within a framework of fully solving the problem, and that actions should deliver tangible results that fully-solve the problem in the real world.  Spratt David is also a co-author of Climate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action.    

Some recommended newsletters

The following newsletters are recommended as excellent sources of information about a broad array of climate-related subjects.

Climate Change Media List @ CarbonEquity.info  |  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Climate Change Media is a weekly list of latest leading climate stories from around the world.   Selected stories cover climate change issues from a variety of perspectives.   They include:  energy, innovation, science, impacts, policy, politics and even psychology and strategy.    This is an excellent weekly review of climate change stories from around the world.   It is also an excellent source of stories about Australia where the list is generated. 

Science Daily  |  Subscribe

Science Daily is an excellent source of information about science and research news.  A number of daily and weekly newsletters are available.   The ScienceDaily Environment News Summaries are recommended.  This is a broad review of environmental science and research issues that extends beyond climate science. 

UNFCCC News   |   Subscribe

This is a bi-monthly newsetter from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.    The UNFCCC e-newsletter gives a comprehensive overview of major news and announcements, along with practical information about upcoming events.

Solve Climate  |  Subscribe

Solve Climate is a great source of daily political and climate science analysis with a global view and a US focus. 

Atmosphere Monthly at CO2Now.org  |  Subscribe

Atmosphere Monthly is the newsletter for this website, CO2Now.org.   This is the newsetter that keeps the atmospheric CO2 data up front and always current.  It is an excellent source of links to stories, research, books, innovations and people that help people understand what is happening in the atmosphere and the oceans, and what is being done to set things right. 

CO2Now.org is focussed on the “what is” of CO2.   At this site, you will find scientific data for CO2 levels in the atmosphere.  The information is focussed on current levels and the current trend.   However, information is also provided about historical levels and projections by scientists based on climate models and certain assumptions. 

CO2Now.org is not about what CO2 “should be.”  Nor is it about ways to get CO2 to a safer level.    That type of information is readily available from many sources.  

The idea behind CO2Now.org was sparked on September 29, 2007.  It happened in the middle of a public talk by Al Gore in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  

Michael McGee was one of about a thousand in the audience.  As Al Gore  does in An Inconvenient Truth, the former Vice President of the USA was getting focussed on the unnatural levels of atmospheric CO2 that keep rising.   ‘So, if rising levels of CO2 is at the heart of the global warming problem,’ McGee thought, ‘what is the current level of CO2?’  ‘Why isn’t the current level of CO2 being talked about?’  'What CO2 level are we aiming for?’   ‘Maybe someone should create a website that posts the latest CO2 data.’