NOAA: 2012 saw second largest rise in climate emissions on record

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/06/noaa-2012-saw-second-largest-rise-in-climate-emissions-on-record/



NOAA: 2012 saw second largest rise in climate emissions on record
By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 15:21 EST

Heat-trapping carbon emissions in the atmosphere grew so much in 2012 that the year will go down as the second-highest growth in recorded history, placing the globe dangerously near a climatic tipping point, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.

Climate-causing emissions measured 48 times last year by a globally distributed network of atmospheric sensors showed that earth’s total atmospheric carbon content rose 2.67 parts per million (ppm) in 2012.

This means current atmospheric carbon is now at 395.09 ppm, far above the 350 ppm climate scientists like NASA’s James Hansen say is a safe limit. Any higher and earth’s weather systems begin to discharge the excess energy in the atmosphere through ever more powerful storms.

The last time the world saw such a large increase in emissions was 1998, which saw a rise of 2.93 ppm. Most scientists agree that restraining climate change to about 2 degrees of average global temperature rise would allow ecosystems to adapt, but increases of up to 4 or 5 degrees by the end of this century are expected if current trends are not averted.

[CRH]

1. 350 ppm 'a safe limit', not, ...

This means current atmospheric carbon is now at 395.09 ppm, far above the 350 ppm climate scientists like NASA’s James Hansen say is a safe limit. Any higher and earth’s weather systems begin to discharge the excess energy in the atmosphere through ever more powerful storms.

Hansen and others are saying a return to 350 ppm CO2 to stabilize the rise while much more work needs to be done to enhance the absorption of CO2 into various sinks, to continue reducing atmospheric concentrations.

At 350 ppm CO2, the plantet's sea and continental ice continues to melt, methane continues to seep, and feedback mechanisms continue the heat cycle. 350 ppm is not safe. It only gives a dash of hope to those who believe we have not yet tipped.