WMO: Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Reach New Record

[donsutherland1]

From the WMO:

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2011, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Between 1990 and 2011 there was a 30% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping long-lived gases...

Carbon dioxide is the single most important greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. It is responsible for 85% of the increase in radiative forcing over the past decade. According to WMO’s bulletin, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 390.9 parts per million in 2011, or 140% of the pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million.

http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/pr_965_en.html

[WeatherRusty]

From the WMO:

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2011, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Between 1990 and 2011 there was a 30% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping long-lived gases...

Carbon dioxide is the single most important greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. It is responsible for 85% of the increase in radiative forcing over the past decade. According to WMO’s bulletin, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 390.9 parts per million in 2011, or 140% of the pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million.

http://www.wmo.int/p.../pr_965_en.html

The first paragraph is poorly worded IMO. The total radiative forcing has not increased by 30%. The portion due to long lived greenhouse gases has increased by 30%.

This paragraph from later in the article spells it out better:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, quoted in the bulletin, shows that from 1990 to 2011, radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases increased by 30%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of this increase. Total radiative forcing of all long-lived greenhouse gases was the CO2 equivalent of 473 parts per million in 2011.

[WXheights]

HMMM gotta wonder how this will get spun, or can it?

[WeatherRusty]

HMMM gotta wonder how this will get spun, or can it?

The spin is that it doesn't matter all that much, since climate sensitivity is quite low. Or, insignificant trace gases can not have as much impact as claimed. Or, the warming we have experienced to date is mostly caused by factors of internal variability, such as the PDO, or indirectly by the Sun through interaction with galactic cosmic rays and clouds.

[The_Global_Warmer]

“Until now, carbon sinks have absorbed nearly half of the carbon dioxide humans emitted in the atmosphere, but this will not necessarily continue in the future. We have already seen that the oceans are becoming more acidic as a result of the carbon dioxide uptake, with potential repercussions for the underwater food chain and coral reefs. There are many additional interactions between greenhouse gases, Earth’s biosphere and oceans, and we need to boost our monitoring capability and scientific knowledge in order to better understand these,” said Mr Jarraud.

YAY!

We turned the Arctic Cryosphere from basically myth like status that only a few hundred humans ever saw or had much first hand knowledge of to a completely covered part of the globe that in 2012 now only needs very little direct OBS from humans, really just continue technological innovations outside the arctic,

We literally get to sit anywhere we can access the internet and have real time Arctic data at our fingertips by so many measures, it's just quite ridiculous when you think about it. And those of us who have pushed to find as many tool's and as much data as we can couldn't believe the innovation in tracking and understanding the crysophere that has taken place the last decade but really the refining of it since the mid 2000s to keep up and use the exponentially growing computer power through any means is remarkable.

And these tool's have allowed the ones who utilize them properly or at all, which at all is probably the better way to go there to clearly see and predict with very high accuracy that unforeseen incredible changes in the cryosphere are unfolding on a epic level.

And with all of the monitoring technology and techniques we have acquired. The obviousness of these changes has been vehemently opposed the entire time, even as the technology has improved to make it easier to utilize, understand, and use to predict, there has been very little in the way of change from the opposition POV, which their collective and almost universal bottom line was shattered before now pending their personal POV. And yet many if not most still hold the same POV even though again reality has long since expired on it. And others just move their bottom line to the "bottom line" of reality to stay in the game while holding the same expired opposed position.

So, while Mr Jarraud means well, outside of giving those who would love a direct window from their couches the ability to watch the changes unfold in real time just like we have been given for many other parts of this. It's not going to matter.

While this is almost to the point of just being funny, Levity is needed when a situation is really bad and we are reaching that point where levity is needed to accept that most of the brethren of our species have already signed on to go down with the ship.

We are still increasing our GHG out put and oil and coal are projected to rise this decade bringing more and more parts of the world into this kind of energy extraction while we are likely only 3-5 years from yearly sustained oil drilling in the ice covered regions of the arctic sea now that company are innovating floating Islands able to anchor to shelfs, or building there own man made islands protecting them from ice damage. Just another source to show that we will obviously burn up all of the oil in the Earth we can reach if don't it will just fall short because of a paradigm shift.