The worst-case curve

Hawaii's Mauna Loa observatory, where record CO2 increases are being documented. Photograph courtesy of Richard Vogel/AP.

Concentrations of the “hot-house gas” carbon dioxide (CO2) measured at Mauna Loa Observatory are at about 385 parts per million — levels that match scientists’ worst-case scenarios, with implications for climate change. It would “probably be at 390 (ppm) next year at Mauna Loa” said Fred T. Mackenzie, a professor emeritus of oceanography. This represents an increase in atmospheric CO2 density of about 40% since before the industrial age and the extensive use of fossil fuels.

Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin or the Honolulu Advertiser. Image courtesy of the Associated Press.