Posted on 3 November 2018 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

Earth’s carbon dioxide levels are likely the highest they've been in 15 million years

Earth’s average global temperature from 2013 to 2017, as compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980.

We’ve entered some profoundly unfamiliar planetary territory.

Amid a backdrop of U.S. politicians still questioning whether the changing climate is attributable to humans (it is), it's quite likely that we’ve actually boosted Earth's carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — to the highest levels they’ve been in some 15 million years. 

The number 15 million is dramatically higher than a statistic frequently cited by geologists and climate scientists: That today's carbon levels are the highest they've been on Earth in at least 800,000 years — as there's irrefutable proof trapped in the planet's ancient ice.

Though scientists emphasize that air bubbles preserved in ice are the gold carbon standard, there are less direct, though still quite reliable means to gauge Earth's long-ago carbon dioxide levels. These measurements, broadly called proxies, include the chemical make-up of long-dead plankton and the evidence stored in the breathing cells, or stomata, of ancient plants.

Scientists have identified this 15 million number by measuring and re-measuring proxies all over the world. 

Earth’s carbon dioxide levels are likely the highest they've been in 15 million years by Mark Kaufman, Science, Mashable, Oct 29, 2018

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Oct 28, 2018

• 'First thing': Phelps set sights on reviving fortunes of climate body by Peter Hannam, Environment, The Age, Oct 27, 2018
• Spain to close most coalmines in €250m transition deal by Arthur Neslen, Environment, Guardian, Oct 26, 2018
• An Ambitious Global Effort to Cut Shipping Emissions Stalls by Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News, Oct 26, 2018
• The economics Nobel went to a guy who enabled climate change denial and delay, Opinion by Eugene Linden, Los Angeles Times, Oct 25, 2018
• Joseph Stiglitz warns Australia on economic fallout from fossil fuel dependence by Emma Alberici, ABC News (Australia), Oct 24, 2018
• Coastal Pacific Oxygen Levels Now Plummet Once A Year by Kristian Foden-Vencil, Weekend Sunday Edition, NPR News, Oct 28, 2018
• Buddhistdoor View: Irreversible Climate Change—One Decade Left, Buddhistdoor Global, Oct 27, 2018
• Climate change: Five cheap ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere by Matt McGrath, Environment, BBC News, Oct 25, 2018

Mon Oct 29, 2018

• CCC: England’s coastal defences need ‘urgent’ rethink to cope with climate change by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Oct 26, 2018
• Clean energy is catching up to natural gas by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 26, 2018
• To see how climate change is up close and very personal, look no further than Mangkhut’s havoc, Opinion by David Dodwell, South China Morning Post, Oct 28, 2018
• IEA: Clean energy transition makes reforms ‘inescapable’ for oil states by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Oct 25, 2018
• These Voters Could Approve the First U.S. Carbon Fee. Big Oil Is Spending Millions to Defeat It. by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Oct 29, 2018
• Solar geoengineering may not cool the oceans, study says by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Oct 29, 2018
• Can your actions really save the planet? ‘Planetary accounting’ has the answer by Peter Newman & Kate Meyer, The Conversation US, Oct 25, 2018
• The Supreme Court is about to decide if the children’s climate lawsuit can proceed by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 26, 2018

Tue Oct 30, 2018

• World’s largest pension fund GPIF of Japan supports the Climate Action 100+ Initiative, Il BioEconomista. Oct 29, 2018
• Bitcoin’s popularity has a downside: It’s an energy glutton that could hurt Earth’s climate, study finds by Chris Mooney & Steven Mufson. Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Oct 29,2018
• This group is helping voters make sense of which candidates take climate change seriously by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 29, 2018
• German Government Faces Lawsuit Over Its Failure Meet Climate Goals by Dana Drugmand, Climate Liability News, Oct 28, 2018
• Bishops sign document calling for action against climate change by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service, National Catholic Reporter, Oct 26, 2018
• Three-quarters of Venice flooded by exceptional high tide, AP/Guardian, Oct 29, 2018
• 'We've never seen this': massive Canadian glaciers shrinking rapidly by Leyland Cecco, Guardian, Oct 30, 2018
• Wisdom from a climate champion: A conversation with Katharine Hayhoe by Tom Bateman, GreenBiz, Oct 25, 2018

Wed Oct 31, 2018

• Brazil Greenhouse Gas Emission Spike Blamed on Deforestation by Brittany Patterson, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Oct 28, 2016
• Stilling: The curious case of land wind speed decline by Kate Doyle & Paul Culliver, ABC Weather (Australia), Oct 27, 2018
• Can Illinois Handle a 2000% Jump in Solar Capacity? We’re About to Find Out. by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Oct 30, 2018
• Earth’s carbon dioxide levels are likely the highest they've been in 15 million years by Mark Kaufman, Science, Mashable, Oct 29, 2018
• A eulogy to Guardian's Climate Consensus - the 97% by Dana Nuccitelli, Skeptical Science, Oct 30, 2018
• Who Needs Halloween by Kate Marvel, Hot Planet Blog, Scientific American, Oct 30, 2018
• There are three options in tackling climate change. Only one will work, Opinion by Mayer Hillman, Comment is Free, Guardian, Oct 30, 2018
• Feds are 'trying to silence' the kids suing the Trump administration over global warming by John Sutter, CNN, Oct 30, 2018
• Florida heat is already hard on outdoor workers. Climate change will raise health risks by Alex Harris, Miami Herald, Oct 31, 2018

Thu Nov 1, 2018

• Forest report points to opportunity for recovery by Jennifer Rigby, Mongabay, Oct 31, 2018
• Historic flooding in Italy: What role has climate change played in the destruction? by Marina Pitofsky, World, USA Today, Oct 31, 2018
• Geoengineering is no closer to working by Tim Radford, Climate News Network, Oct 30, 2018
• Climate change: Oceans 'soaking up more heat than estimated' by Matt McGrath, Environment, BBC News, Nov 1, 2018
• Climate depression is for real. Just ask a scientist by Madeleine Thomas, Grist, Oct 28, 2018
• The climate future I want my kids to inherit by Meredith Connolly, Climate Solutions, Oct 30, 2018
• Global Warming Is Messing with the Jet Stream. That Means More Extreme Weather. by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Oct 31, 2018
• Worry Wards by Jesse Nichols, Grist , Oct 30, 2018

Fri Nov 2, 2018

• Coal can’t compete with cheaper alternatives and the industry’s true costs are higher than they appear by Daniel Coham, the Conversation US, Nov 1, 2018
• Could One Man Single-Handedly Ruin the Planet? by David Wallace-Wells . Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Nov 1, 2018
• When Climate Change Broke My Heart and Forced Me to Grow Up by Mary Annaïse Heglar, Medium, Oct 10, 2018
• Feel Something, Learn Something, Do Something: A Care Package for Climate Grief by Mary Annaïse Heglar, Medium, Oct 22, 2018