| Accelerating Rise of Atmospheric CO2 |  |  |  |
 Atmospheric CO2 is accelerating upward from decade to decade.
For the past ten years (2005 - 2014), the average annual rate of increase is 2.11 parts per million (ppm). This rate of increase is more than double the increase in the 1960s.
See the table below.
Decade Total Increases Average Annual Rates of Increase
2005 – 2014 21.06 ppm 2.11 ppm per year
1995 – 2004 18.67 ppm 1.87 ppm per year
1985 – 1994 14.24 ppm 1.42 ppm per year
1975 – 1984 14.40 ppm 1.44 ppm per year
1965 – 1974 10.56 ppm 1.06 ppm per year
1960 – 1964 3.65 ppm 0.73 ppm per year (5 years only)
Before the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, global average CO2 was about 280 ppm. During the last 800,000 years, CO2 fluctuated between about 180 ppm during ice ages and 280 ppm during interglacial warm periods. Today’s rate of increase is more than 100 times faster than the increase that occurred when the last ice age ended.
~ NOAA Media Release " Carbon Dioxide...Tops 400 ppm" (2013)
Why is the atmospheric concentration of CO2 increasing at an accelerating rate? Research suggests that it is because fossil fuels are being burned at an enhanced rate, the ending of the long-term trend of increasing carbon efficiency of economies, and the ocean's diminishing absorption of CO2 (Canadell et al., 2007).
Source Data:
Data is calculated by CO2Now using measurements of the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere (Mauna Loa Observatory) that were made and posted by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's CO2 Program.
Reference:
Canadell, J. G., Quéré, C. L., Raupach, M. R., Field, C. B., Buitenhuis, E. T., Ciais, P., . . . Marland, G. (2007). Contributions to accelerating atmospheric CO2 growth from economic activity, carbon intensity, and efficiency of natural sinks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(47), 18866-18870. doi: 10.2307/25450516
Related Information:
CO2Now | Data for atmospheric CO2 (Mauna Loa Observatory)
CO2Now | Global carbon emissions
CO2Now | Annual CO2 concentrations
CO2Now | Global temperature
CO2Now | The Climate Sheet: More "Big Picture" Data
The Conversation | Existential risks to our planetary life-support systems (2013)
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