CO2 ‘highest for 650,000 years’

Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are currently rising faster than at any time in the last 650,000 years, according to reports by Science.

Ice cores taken more than 3km below Antarctica in a region called Dome Concordia (Dome C) shows atmospheric composition as far back as 900,000 years.

Scientists working with the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (Epica) have drilled 3,270 m into the ice, finding that current CO₂ levels are unprecedented.

Project leader Thomas Stocker from the University of Bern, Switzerland says: “We find that CO₂ is about 30% higher than at any time, and methane 130% higher than at any time; and the rates of increase are absolutely exceptional: for CO₂, 200 times faster than at any time in the last 650,000 years.”