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Methane Emissions Spiked in 2020 Scientists Fear Feedback Loops
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Scientists warn CO2 levels in 2020 were higher than anytime in the last 3 6m years
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8 April 2021
Scientists have recorded a surprising rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane levels over 2020, seeming to contradict predictions that the pandemic would see a temporary slowdown in the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Research by United States government agency the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found average surface level atmospheric CO
2 levels hit an all-time high of 412.5 parts per million (ppm), up 2.6 ppm on 2019 levels.
That was the fifth highest increase on record, after 1987, 1998, 2015 and 2016. Atmospheric CO2 levels are now the highest they have been for 3.6 million years. Back then sea levels were 24 metres higher than they are today, and the world was about 4 degrees hotter.
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Carbon dioxide and methane emissions surged in 2020 even amid coronavirus shutdowns, according to research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released Wednesday.
Data collected at remote NOAA sampling locations indicated the global surface average for CO2 was 412.5 parts per million last year, a 2.6 ppm increase. The global increase rate constituted the fifth-highest on record for a single year, after 1987, 1998, 2015 and 2016, according to NOAA.
“Human activity is driving climate change,” said Colm Sweeney, assistant deputy director of the Global Monitoring Lab (GML). “If we want to mitigate the worst impacts, it’s going to take a deliberate focus on reducing fossil fuels emissions to near zero - and even then we’ll need to look for ways to further remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.”