Earth Equity News-May 13, 2008

Atmospheric CO2 Hits 387 Parts Per Million. Metro (UK), May 13, 2008. "[Scientists at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii announced that] the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached its highest level in human history... pouring into the sky even faster than it did during the second half of the previous century. There are now 387 parts per million of CO2 in the air, the highest figure for 650,000 years... [and] just a few years from what many scientists regard as the tipping point of 400ppm. It raises renewed concerns over the Earth's diminishing ability to soak up pollution and means targets for cutting emissions need to be revised drastically... Last year, the rise was 2.14ppm, while from 1970 to 2000 the concentration rose by an average of about 1.5ppm each year... Prof Andrew Watson, from the University of East Anglia, said up to 30% of the rise could be [attributed] to the weakening of the Earth's natural carbon sinks -- the oceans and rainforests."