Part of the Series
Planet or Profit
For the first time in human history, on May 13, Earth’s concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached 415 parts per million ( ppm). Before the 19th century’s industrial revolution, the CO2 concentration was at about 280 ppm.
Meteorologist and Grist staff writer Eric Holthaus tweeted the following shocking data, derived from historical records, about global atmospheric CO2 levels:
270 → 280 ppm: ~5000 yrs
280 → 290: ~100
290 → 300: ~40
300 → 310: ~30
310 → 320: ~23
320 → 330: 12
330 → 340: 8
340 → 350: 6
350 → 360: 7
360 → 370: 6
370 → 380: 5
380 → 390: 5
390 → 400: 5
400 → 410: 4
410 → 415.7: 2
The data reveals the intensity of acceleration of the amount of CO2 that human activity is adding to Earth’s already overburdened atmosphere.
Visualizing the Meteoric Rise of CO2
Neil Kaye, a climate data scientist with the U.K.’s meteorological office, generated a stunning graphic allowing people to see what percentage of global fossil fuel emissions have occurred in their lifetimes.
You can view the graphic here. If you are 40 years old, 65 percent of all global fossil fuel emissions have been released in your lifetime, and if you are 85 years of age, the amount is over 90 percent.
Kaye produced another stunning graphic demonstrating the global acceleration of atmospheric CO2 content, which can be viewed here.
An animation produced by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences shows how the current dramatic rise of CO2 in the atmosphere is unparalleled in Earth’s history dating back hundreds of thousands of years, based on ice-core data.
And there are, unfortunately, no signs of this acceleration abating.
Global carbon emissions jumped to an all-time high in 2018, due primarily to the increasing use of coal and automobiles.
“Almost all countries are contributing to the rise,” The Guardian reported of the crisis, “with emissions in China up 4.7 percent, in the US by 2.5 percent and in India by 6.3 percent in 2018.”
All of this data makes clear that there is an enormous amount of global warming already baked into the system, given that it takes 10 years for us to feel the warming from CO2 after it is introduced into the atmosphere.
In the last decade, more CO2 emissions have been released into the atmosphere than any other decade in history. This means that, in another decade, higher temperatures and intensifying impacts from human-caused climate disruption are virtually guaranteed.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy