In a sobering admission to the Australian Broadcasting Company, NOAA scientist Pieter Tans, who is in charge of tracking Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in Earth’s atmosphere, said there has been no slowdown despite years of efforts.
He admitted in the interview, “…if you’re measuring the atmosphere, you’re not seeing anything happening right now in terms of change.” [bold, links added]
Excerpts from the article:
Climate scientists warn of increased climate change events as carbon emissions fail to drop
Posted Sat 4 Jun 2022 at 11:47 am
Emissions across the globe continue to rise despite nations committing to cut them.
Key points:
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- The pandemic cut global carbon emissions in 2020, but they rebounded last year.
- Scientists say carbon dioxide levels are now about the same as in the Pliocene era, when temperatures were 3.9C warmer.
- May is the peak for global carbon dioxide emissions.
Scientists are warning of increased climate change events including heat waves, flooding, and droughts if carbon emissions are not cut.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said its long-time monitoring station at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, averaged 421 parts per million of carbon dioxide for the month of May, which is when the crucial greenhouse gas hits its yearly high.
…
“The world is trying to reduce emissions, and you just don’t see it,” said NOAA climate scientist Pieter Tans.
“In other words, if you’re measuring the atmosphere, you’re not seeing anything happening right now in terms of change.”
…
The slowdown from the pandemic did cut global carbon emissions a bit in 2020, but they rebounded last year.
Both changes were small compared to how much carbon dioxide is pumped into the atmosphere each year, especially considering that carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for hundreds to a thousand years, Mr. Tans said.
SOURCE: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-04/carbon-dioxide-emissions-hold-firm/101126312
Clearly, the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns barely made a dent in atmospheric CO2, as seen in the figure below.
During the pandemic, there was a near-total global shutdown of vehicle use, air travel, and a significant portion of industry. This reduction in processes that created CO2 barely dented global actual CO2 atmospheric concentrations, if at all.
The other interesting point is that CO2 levels today are now at ~421 parts per million (ppm), which is at least 1.5x preindustrial levels (421/280 = 1.5).
Despite the increases in atmospheric CO2, where are the claimed superstorms and megadroughts?
Climate alarmists keep promising something scary will happen if we don’t act now, but so far the only noticeable impact of all this added atmospheric CO2 is a slight rise in global temperature, which according to the Potsdam Institute, might have prevented the start of a new ice age.
The extra atmospheric CO2 is also producing a benefit; a measurable greening of the Earth.
As we have regularly pointed out at Climate Realism (here, here, and here, for example), there are benefits to the mild increase in CO2 and temperature over the past century, yet that seems to be regularly ignored.
Unfortunately, media, gullible politicians, and climate alarmists continue to cling to climate models that even their scientific colleagues suggest are producing implausible results.
Models projecting a grim future aren’t science, but rather a reflection of the mindset that pervades the climate-political complex.
Read more at Climate Realism
“Worse than we thought” articles in 3, 2, 1…
I find it amazing that anyone would have expectation that carbon dioxide levels would be leveling off. This is if anthropological sources are the cause of the increase, which is unlikely. Three of the largest emitters, China, India, and Russia are only giving lip service to climate change as they continue to significantly increase their emissions. As usual with climate change predictions, the warning of increased climate change events is not happening. Mean while Australians are freezing and Americas and Europeans are paying outrageous prices for energy.
Another article on this website asked if we were asking the right questions about climate change. From the article above, “This (COVID) reduction in processes that created CO2 barely dented global actual CO2 atmospheric concentrations, if at all.” A question that needs to be asked is if man’s emissions are a significant contributor to increasing level of CO2.
Calling out developing countries on their emissions is seen as a new form of colonialism. Better avoided. Instead, they should be helped with no strings attached.
So during the Pliocene era the CO2 concentrations were about what they are now but temps were 3.9C warmer. I thought CO2 was supposed to be the control knob so how could it have been that much hotter with the same concentration of CO2? Perhaps these so-called climate scientists are just making it all up.
“Climate alarmists keep promising something scary will happen”
Well…the planet is greening up, and that can be scary if you were predicting the opposite.
The so-called “fight against climate change” is actually a war on freedom, democracy and capitalism. Every American is feeling the economic damage of inflation, shortages and the invisible thief—hyper-regulation. The globalist-communists pulling Brandon’s strings are responsible for all of it! CO2 is a marker and only a minor player in temperature rise; chosen as the boogeyman because it’s the byproduct of burning any hydrocarbon! A climate model designed around massive warming effects attributed to CO2 will always show the boogeyman is to blame! It’s the misanthropic religion every tyrant embraces totally……..
I assume the proponents of climate change don’t know that CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have been falling for a few million years and if it reaches 150ppm, that will be the end of all plant growth and as a consequence, the end of human life on planet Earth.
SO – burning coal, gas and wood is good for life as we know it. That’s the truth and people who grow plants in enclosed areas know that because they can vary plant growth by varying the amount of CO2 injected into the area.
Looking at this another way – if there were no humans on Earth, I suspect atmospheric CO2 concentrations would be around the same as today, give or take a little…….
Love that climate change thing. One day it’s 94 and a week later it’s 66. So much for the warming trends. They don’t exist. We need more CO2. The dinosaurs survived for about 170 million years and they never paid any attention to climate change or the news media for that matter. And all those dino farts didn’t change a thing. Global warmers are purely nonsensical turds.
It is disheartening to know that, despite worldwide efforts, CO2 levels in the air show no signs of abating. The consequences of this failure to decrease, such as droughts, floods, and heat waves, severely damage the environment and pose a risk to human health. It is necessary for everyone in his or her daily life to make environmentally sustainable choices: using more efficient household appliances, washing in washing machines at lower temperatures, travelling in more sustainable ways. For short trips, choose to travel on foot, by bicycle or electric scooters. For longer journeys, choose electric vehicles, whether we are talking about your personal car, buses, or public transport. These are small steps that, if taken by millions of people, can change the fate of our planet.