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It may sound like a small number, 421 parts per million is a huge number when you’re talking about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And it’s now the highest recorded global CO2 level, reached in May of this year.

 for the Axios Generate newsletter. He said what’s more concerning than the record itself, is the pace at which CO2 is increasing.

“If you look through Earth’s geological history, coming out of the Ice Age we really only raised CO2 by about 80 ppm over 6,000 years,” he told Climate Cast host Paul Huttner. “But we’re going up by about two to four ppm every year. The head official for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who tracks this says this is an explosion of CO2 when you look at this from an historical perspective.”

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Atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing two to four parts per million every year. That’s compared to a total increase of 80 ppm over 6,000 years when Earth was coming out of the Ice Age. 

Atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing 2 to 4 parts per million every year. That’s compared to a total increase of 80 ppm over 6,000 years when Earth was coming out of the Ice Age. 

Recorded atmospheric CO2 hits new record

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