While idiots like Michelle Bachmann make claims about how great and natural CO2 is, back in the real world the scientific data on rising carbon dioxide levels is becoming more and more dire. Far away from the right-wing nuts in America, monitors in Norway are finding that carbon dioxide levels are rising at a rate they never thought possible.
From The Guardian:
Levels of the gas at the Zeppelin research station on Svalbard, northern Norway, last week peaked at over 397 parts per million (ppm), an increase of more than 2.5ppm on 2008. They have since begun to reduce and today stand at 393.7ppm. Prior to the industrial revolution, CO2 levels were around 280ppm.Two to three parts per million does not sound like a lot to the lay person, but to scientists it is quite alarming. And as the rate of increase also rises, the future of our planet and the way we live in it is in peril. The Earth will eventually balance itself out, but as for the society we live in, adapting to a warmer planet has more in store for us than we currently realize. As for climate change deniers like Michelle Bachman, the carbon dioxide that comes out of our noses is not cause for concern but the particles released from our factories, buildings and cars is.
CO2 levels recorded in Svalbard tend to be higher than the global average, but scientists said the CO2 level they had measured was unprecedented even for that location. "These are the highest figures collected in 50m years," said Johan Strom, professor of atmospheric physics at the government-funded Norwegian Polar Institute, which collected the data.
"It is not the level of CO2 that is the problem, because the earth will adapt. What is very worrying is the speed of change. Levels [here] are now increasing 2-3ppm a year.
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