CO2 level soaring

2012 Rise In CO2 Levels Second-Highest In 54 Years

Bad news, everyone.

The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped dramatically in 2012,...

Scientists say the rise in CO2 reflects the world's economy revving up and burning more fossil fuels, especially in China.

Carbon dioxide levels jumped by 2.67 parts per million since 2011 to total just under 395 parts per million...

That's the second highest rise in carbon emissions since record-keeping began in 1959.

More coal-burning power plants, especially in the developing world, are the main reason emissions keep going up...

At the same time, plants and the world's oceans which normally absorb some carbon dioxide, last year took in less than they do on average, says John Reilly, co-director of Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. Plant and ocean absorption of carbon varies naturally year to year.

Scientists track carbon pollution both by monitoring what comes out of factories and what winds up in the atmosphere. Both are rising at rates faster than worst-case scenarios that climate scientists used in their most recent international projections,... [emphasis mine]