Data current as of January 19, 2014
Climate Sheet posts the world’s most current and important planetary data and targets – together in one place from leading global sources. The CO2Now Climate Sheet enumerates the chain of causes that are driving humanity’s largest environmental crises – global warming, climate change and ocean acidification. It also sets out key scientific markers for a stable climate system.
0 tonnes
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Global CO2 emissions for long-term stabilization of atmospheric CO2 “Stabilizing atmospheric CO2 and climate requires thatnet CO2 emissions approach zero” ~ J Hansen et al. Source 1: J Hansen et al via NASA | Target Atmospheric CO2 | 2008 |
0 w/m 2 watts per square meter
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Global energy balance & the end of global warming x “Stabilizing climate requires, to first order, that we restore Earth’s energy balance. ~ Dr. James Hansen Source: J Hansen | Conversation with Bill McKibben | 2010 |
0.58 W/m2 (± 0.15) |
Global energy imbalance from humanity's GHG emissions | 2005 - 2010 Source: NASA | Earth's Energy Budget Remained Out of Balance | 2012 Also: Hansen et al. | Earth's Energy Balance and Implications | 2011 "A new NASA study underscores the fact that greenhouse gases generated by human activity — not changes in solar activity — are the primary force driving global warming. The study offers an updated calculation of the Earth's energy imbalance, the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth's surface and the amount returned to space as heat. The researchers' calculations show that, despite unusually low solar activity between 2005 and 2010, the planet continued to absorb more energy than it returned to space." |
1.91 ppm per year parts per million |
Atmospheric CO2 | Average Annual Rise | 1994 - 2003 December Data Only |
2.09 ppm per year parts per million |
Atmospheric CO2 | Average Annual Rise | 2004 - 2013 December Data Only The rate of increase for this past decade is higher than any decade since the start of the atmospheric CO2 instrument record in March 1958. More Info: CO2Now | Acceleration of Atmospheric CO2 |
8.07 pH |
Ocean Acidification: Average pH of Surface Oceans | 2005 Average pH of surface oceans has declined about 0.1 units since before the industrial revolution. This is an increase of about 30% in the concentration of hydrogen ions which is a considerable acidification of the oceans. “…world leaders should take account of the impact of CO2 on ocean chemistry, ~ The Royal Society (2005) Source 1: The Royal Society | Ocean acidification due to atmospheric CO2 | 2005 |
12.9°C |
100-Year Average Global Surface Temperature for November| 1901 - 2000 |
13.68°C |
Average Global Surface Temperature* | November 2013 Source: NOAA National Climatic Data Center: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cmb-faq/anomalies.html#anomalies More Info: |
172 ppm |
Atmospheric CO2 | Lowest level in 2.1 million years Source: Science | Atmospheric CO2 Across the Mid-Pleistocene | 2009 |
195 countries
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Signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) The United Nation’s ultimate climate objective “is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.” (See UNFCCC Article 2 and UNFCCC media releases) More Info: 350.org | 112 Countries for 350 ppm / 1.5 °C Note: In the event that other countries (or the UNFCCC as a whole) adopts a quantified atmospheric stabilization target for CO2 or any other greenhouse gases, it will be posted in The CO2Now Climate Sheet. |
280 ppm |
Atmospheric CO2 | Pre-Industrial Revolution Atmospheric CO2 was stable at about 280 ppm for almost 10,000 years until 1750. |
300 ppm |
Atmospheric CO2 | Highest level in at least 2.1 million years (pre-industrial) Circa 1912, atmospheric CO2 levels breached the 300 ppm threshold for the first time in at least 2.1 million years. |
350 ppm
|
Atmospheric CO2 | Upper Safety Limit “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm, but likely less than that… If the present overshoot of this target CO2 is not brief, there is a possibility of seeding irreversible catastrophic effects.” ~ J Hansen et al Source 1: Open Atmospheric Science | Target Atmospheric CO2 | 2008 |
391.01 ppm |
Atmospheric CO2 | October 2012 | Mauna Loa Observatory Data dated November 8, 2013 at NOAA-ESRL. CO2Now links to source datasets | Atmospheric CO2 data from NOAA & Scripps |
396.81 ppm |
Atmospheric CO2 | December 2013 | Mauna Loa Observatory Preliminary data released Data dated January 9, 2014 at NOAA-ESRL. CO2Now links to source datasets | Atmospheric CO2 data from NOAA & Scripps |
885 ppm |
Atmospheric CO2 | Median Projection for Year 2100 This projection is made in C-ROADS, a scientifically reviewed climate simulator. The analysis accounts for the voluntary emissions reductions pledges of parties to the UNFCCC. This CO2 level represents a global temperature increase of about 4.5 °C. Source: Climate Interactive Analysis as of April 2013 |
36 billion metric tonnes |
Humanity's Global CO2 Emissions (including land use) | 2012 2011 global CO2 emissions are the highest in human history. They are 54% higher than in 1990 (the Kyoto Protocol reference year). Global fossil fuel emissions made up 91% of the total. The Global Carbon Project (GCP) posted data for 2011 on November 19, 2013. Source: Nature Geoscience & GCP | See "Global Carbon Emissions" at CO2Now |
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