Carbon rise causes concern
2004-10-11 08:25
London - A US scientist has noted a surprising jump in the amount of carbon dioxide, the gas that causes global warming, two British newspapers reported on Monday, on the eve of a Greenpeace conference in London.
According to figures published in the Guardian and the Independent, it was the first time that the quantity of carbon dioxide - the main greenhouse gas - in the atmosphere had risen by more than two parts per million over two consecutive years.
Between 2001 and 2002 the number of parts per million of carbon dioxide rose from 371.02 to 373.10, an increase of 2.08 over the year. Then it rose again in 2003 to 375.64, an annual increase of 2.54.
The data was recorded at the summit of Mauna Loa mountain in Hawaii by US scientist Charles Keeling, who has been collecting it since 1958.
Keeling said that up to then rises of over two parts per million had been recorded in only four years - 1973, 1988, 1994 and 1998 - and each time it was a year marked by the climatic phenomenon known as El Nino.
"The rise in the annual rate to above two parts per million for two consecutive years is a real phenomenon," Keeling was quoted as saying.
The most disturbing thing for the 74-year-old scientist was that neither of those two years had been marked by El Nino and there was no data to explain the increase.
"It is possible that this is the beginning of a natural process unprecedented in the record. This could be a weakening of the earth's carbon sinks, associated with the world warming, as part of a climate change feedback mechanism. It is a cause for concern," Keeling said.
The Guardian said the figures would be discussed on Tuesday at the Greenpeace conference attended by Prime Minister Tony Blair's scientific adviser, David King.