Climate security

Warming Soaring: Earth's Carbon Dioxide Levels at Highest Point in 800,000 Years

Carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, which contributes heavily to human-induced global warming, is now at its highest level in the past 800,000 years, according to scientists.

Last month, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were measured at 410 parts per million (ppm), the highest measurement in the past 800,000 years, according to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. 

"We keep burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide keeps building up in the air," stated Scripps scientist Ralph Keeling, adding, "It's essentially as simple as that," cited by USA Today.

Keeling has been recording carbon dioxide levels at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1958.

In April, the average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was around 410.31 ppm, the first time a Mauna Loa record has been greater than 410 ppm.