re: Ann: NewCO2Fuels signs agreements with tw... Carbon dioxide...

re: Ann: NewCO2Fuels signs agreements with tw... Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are now at their highest in nearly a million years, reaching over 400 parts per million (ppm) in April.

Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego reported that the average CO2 value in April was 401.33 ppm with each day of that month staying above 400 ppm, a record high.

Through his analysis of historical data, the son of the scientist who developed the measurement system of carbon dioxide is sounding the alarm that we are living in a time unlike humans have ever seen.

"You have to go back something like *4 million years or several million years to get levels that might have been this high, and that's really at the beginning of the evolution of homosapiens. So human beings, as such, haven't seen atmospheric levels this high before," says Dr. Ralph Keeling, whose father, Charles David Keeling, who died in 2005, developed what is called the "Keeling Curve" which measures worldwide CO2 levels.

The elder Keeling began collecting CO2 ppm data since 1958 at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, and that data, combined with readings of CO2 taken from ice cores, provides a glimpse into the past going back several millions of years.

Scientists have sought to gauge the impact of climate change on humankind in the coming decades including the effects of CO2 levels that have been rising due to the burning of fossil fuels since the advent of the Industrial Revolution.

"Here we are at 400. So what does that signify? to me, it's more a wake up call of how far we've come," says Ralph Keeling. "The steady rise is not newsworthy, normally, you get so used to the things changing, you don't realize you're actually moving into new territory, and we're moving into new territory in terms of CO2 and climate."

The rising carbon dioxide levels could have far-reaching implications for humanity, including higher global temperatures, resulting in rising sea-levels, as well as dangerous effects on food sources. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may cut the nutritional quality of some of the world's most important food crops, researchers in a study by the journal Nature reported on Wednesday (May 07). The researchers said these findings point to one of the most important health threats shown to be linked to climate change.

Keeling explains the reason for how CO2 levels may affect crops:

"CO2 is a vital gas for plants. It affects their growth, and there's no doubt that it could affect their crops, it could potentially affect the quality of food that comes from crops, it could affect forest growth, so that's an additional influence. Not all negative, but also troubling in many ways that we're changing things that we don't fully understand," he says.

It is also having a devastating effect on the world's oceans, causing acidity levels to rise to levels unseen during the age of mankind.

"It's affecting life in the ocean, it's changing the acidity of the ocean, making it more corrosive to marine organisms, all of these things are already happening, and they're going to be happening in a bigger way as we go forward," says Keeling.

"I have to say, it's exciting science, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it," he adds. - See more at: http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/asia-pacific/20140509/140013-co2-in-atmosphere-reaches-highest-levels-in-nearly-a-million-years.html#sthash.xUMYhZ9z.dpuf


- See more at: http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/asia-pacific/20140509/140013-co2-in-atmosphere-reaches-highest-levels-in-nearly-a-million-years.html#sthash.xUMYhZ9z.dpuf

(replace his '4 million or several' years with '4 thousands or several thousand', is more realistic, when you have human and historical records.