Dramatic rise in carbon levels

July 2006 was the hottest month on record in Britain (38.1C) and 2006 became the hottest year on record. Globally 19 of the warmest 20 years have occurred since 1980. 

Consensus is that most global warming is due to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.  When we burn coal, oil and gas to make energy, run our transport or heat our homes, we release the stored solar energy and trapped carbon from fossil fuels laid down over millions of years.  CO2 is building up in the atmosphere, trapping in heat - the greenhouse effect.  Atmospheric carbon levels are rising dramatically.  Levels stood at 316 parts per million in 1959.  By 2004 levels had risen to 377 ppm.  An increase of almost 20%.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that, if unchecked, Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere will have risen by as much as 970 ppm by 2100. Global temperatures would warm by nearly 6°C compared with 1990 levels.

Latest figures show that C02 is accumulating in the atmosphere much faster than expected. From 1970 to 2000 C02 concentrations rose by an average of 1.5 ppm each year. But since 2001, the annual average has been 2.2 ppm.

Rising sea levels - just one of the issues we face

The effects of our total CO2 emissions, our collective Carbon Footprint are complex and interwoven.  They include rising sea levels, melting glaciers and ice sheets, melting permafrost, changing sea currents, extreme weather events, flooding, drought, disruption to food production and famine. We can see these impacts now across the world. In Europe, the Eiger is crumbling.  In Africa Kilimanjaro has little ice left around its summit.  In South America the Amazon rainforest is entering its second year of drought. 



Everywhere, people are seeing for themselves changes in weather and seasons, affecting everything from farming to insurance premiums.

Facing the future

We can meet change with change. We can achieve the kind of cutbacks in CO2 emissions needed to stabilise carbon levels.  It can start now with a first step.  We can all begin to take responsibility for our carbon footprints - the part our lifestyles and organisations play in changing carbon levels in the atmosphere.

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