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Using the monthly mean data for atmospheric CO2 (Mauna Loa Observatory), the editor of this report calculated the 10 year average rate of change for year-over-year March CO2 in parts per million (ppm):

April 10, 2009  

Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii  (USA)   Atmospheric CO2 reached 388.79 parts per million (ppm) in the month of March 2009, according to scientific data released a few hours ago by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. At the same monitoring location, atmospheric CO2 was 385.96 ppm in March 2008. 

Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas that fuels global warming and climate change.  The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased year-over-year every March since the 1958 start of the first continuous, high-precision instrument measurements.  

Atmospheric CO2 data 

Rate of increase  

Using the March mean data for atmospheric CO2 (Mauna Loa Observatory), the editor of this report calculated the 10 year average rate of year-over-year change in parts per million (ppm):

The ultimate objective

The Ùnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol were created with the ultimate objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.  

Governments, companies and people are working worldwide with an express objective of reducing carbon emissions.  These aims and steps are accomplished in different ways, but for the purpose of stabilizing CO2 at a safe level in the atmosphere.  Atmoshperhic levels are an essential reference point for any discussion of emissions reductions and emissions reductions commitments.  

What the data shows

The data in this report shows that atmospheric CO2 has been rising year after year.  It also shows that the rise of atmospheric CO2 is accelerating from decade to decade.  This means that the chief greenhouse gas is less stable than ever, and a future worsening of the consequences such as global warming, climate destabilization and ocean acidification.  When representatives of 192 countries meet in Copenhagen in December 2009 to agree on a replacement for the expiring Kyoto Protocol, a climate treaty is needed that can actually stabilize CO2 at a safe level.  

How CO2Now.org  is helping

In 2009, most public discussions and media reports focus is on emissions reductions.  It is rare for emissions reductions to be presented in the context of what level of reductions is needed to stabilize CO2 at a safe level in the atmosphere.  CO2Now.org helps to fill a societal gap by making atmospheric CO2 easy to find, watch and share with others.  It also helps by drawing atmospheric CO2 into the centre of the climate policy discourse.

Here are some ways that you can help bring atmospheric levels into plain view: 

Climate Time

“If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.”

  Rajendra Pachauri

  Scientist, Economist and Chairman of the Nobel-winning International Panel on Climate Change  NY Times | November 2007