Atmosphere - Facts

• Atmospheric carbon reached 7000ppm, 500 million years ago in the Cambrian period.
• Today, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than it has been for the last 800,000 years.
• Carbon in the atmosphere is currently rising at 2ppm/year and accelerating.
• Measurements at the MLO show that carbon in the atmosphere has increased markedly since the industrial revolution. It was derived mainly form the anthropogenic burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
• Atmospheric carbon has been measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) on Hawaii since 1958. Its remoteness makes it ideal.
• Carbon in the atmosphere today lies between 720GTC to 800GTC. It makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere (400ppm).