8 APRIL 2021
Even after a year of coronavirus lockdowns and shutdowns, global emissions of greenhouse gases are still increasing at an unrelenting rate.
Today, according to initial measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), global levels of carbon dioxide emissions are higher than they have been at any given time in the past 3.6 million years. Annual methane emissions - a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than CO
2 - just experienced their largest year-on-year increase since records began in 1983.
These disappointing numbers were calculated from various sampling locations around the world; together, they paint a grim picture of our future.
COVID-19 hasn t slowed global warming: Earth s carbon dioxide levels highest in over 3 million years, NOAA says msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
USA TODAY
Carbon dioxide and methane continued their unrelenting rise in 2020 despite the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Human activity is driving climate change.
The world is already more than 2 [degrees Fahrenheit] warmer than it was before the Industrial Revolution.”
The COVID-19 pandemic did nothing to slow the root cause of global warming.
In fact, the level of carbon dioxide in the Earth s atmosphere is now higher than it has been in at least 3.6 million years, federal scientists announced Wednesday.
At that time, sea levels were as much as 78 feet higher, the average temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, Greenland was mostly green, and Antarctica had trees.