Well, that didn't take long.
Four days ago (May 9) the Mauna Loa Observatory recorded CO2 measurements topping 400ppm (parts per million) for the first time since measurements began in 1958, and likely for the first time since man has existed. In '58 the CO2 levels were just over 300ppm, and rising at about 0.7ppm/year. Today the levels are shooting up at over 2ppm/year.
Climate scientists warned for a long time that we needed to try to keep the levels from going beyond the 350ppm mark but of course were ignored and, worse, treated to scorn and "skepticism" from those representing either corporate/political interests (read Naomi Oreskes book, Merchants of Doubt) or ideological absurdities from clueless people like James Inhofe, who asserts that climate change is not possible because, “God’s still up there.”
So now we've blown through the 300s in just over half a century and show no signs of slowing down.
This is bad - especially when you understand that carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for millennia, and even especiallier when you understand that current climate models are probably low-balling eventual outcomes. But that is not a reason to despair of acting for change,
“There’s no stopping CO2 from reaching 400 ppm,” said Ralph Keeling. “That’s now a done deal. But what happens from here on still matters to climate, and it’s still under our control. It mainly comes down to how much we continue to rely on fossil fuels for energy.”
Ralph Keeling is the son of Charles Keeling, the man who began recording what is now known as the "Keeling Curve" (graph above) back in 1958. If Ralph can still hope, then we all can - as long as we're conscientious enough to realize that that hope has to be connected to, at the very least, voting for individuals who can think beyond credulous platitudes (calling them "religious platitudes" would be an insult to religious people everywhere).
On the bright side (and in the category of 'something else we can do about climate change'), Tesla Motors Company has announced that it's making a profit. And even better, Consumer Reports wrote recently,
"There, we said it. The Tesla Model S outscores every other car in our test Ratings. It does so even though it's an electric car. In fact, it does so because it is electric."
...and,
"So is the Tesla Model S the best car ever? We wrestled with that question long and hard. It comes close. And if your needs are confined to the Tesla's driving range, it just may be."
So come on everyone, get out there and do something for the environment. Pony up $90K for a new Tesla Model S, you know you want to.
Aah okay, go get a Prius. I won't tell.