Until recently, when stating current CO2 levels in the atmosphere, it's said we've been sitting at around 383 ppm (parts per million), but the latest findings now peg us at 394 ppm -- a full 40% higher than pre-industrial levels of approximately 280 ppm.

This latest peak, exacerbated by rapid growth of developing economies like China, is expected to dip slightly as the northern hemisphere heads into summer, when plant growth makes its own subtractions from the atmosphere. Worldwide, CO2 levels are always highest at the end of winter in the northern hemisphere, where the bulk of emissions are sourced.

This is where we see the globalised 'free trade' market having a direct adverse effect on climate:

He said growing economies in Asia such as China and India were a reason for the rise in emissions, in line with a linked fall of industrial efficiency in the past two years or so -- more carbon is being emitted per dollar of economic output in a reverse of a long improving trend.

"The affluent world wants to buy cheap stuff and we buy it...from the inefficient old-fashioned technology that we have got rid of," he said. -- Reuters

This is the one step forward, two steps backwards phenomenon we've written about before (see also).

Meanwhile, our understanding of the complicated dynamics of ice melt on the Greenland ice sheet is improving through the work of NASA and their Terra satellite. The latest statement from the NASA team confirms that meltwater on the surface of the ice sheet is reliably followed by ice melt throughout the body of ice. The report also indicates that warming air temperatures now have the southern part of the ice mass hovering near melting point during the summer months.

"We're seeing a close correspondence between the date that surface melting begins, and the date that mass loss of ice begins beneath the surface," Hall said. "This indicates that the meltwater from the surface must be traveling down to the base of the ice sheet -- through over a mile of ice -- very rapidly, where its presence allows the ice at the base to slide forward, speeding the flow of outlet glaciers that discharge icebergs and water into the surrounding ocean."

... Hall and her colleagues believe that air temperature increases are responsible for increasing ice sheet surface temperatures and thus more-extensive surface melt. "If air temperatures continue rising over Greenland, surface melt will continue to play a large role in the overall loss of ice mass." She also noted that the team's detailed study using the high-resolution MODIS data show that various parts of the ice sheet are reacting differently to air temperature increases, perhaps reacting to different climate-driven forces. This is important because much of the southern coastal area of the ice sheet is already near the melting point (0 degrees Celsius) during the summer. -- ENN

Millions of dollars are being spent on our growing desire to understand the intricacies of what we're doing to our world. We're getting very good at monitoring climate change. Indeed, there's a lot of money to be made in watching our world melt:

Courtesy: Throbgoblins

The British National Space Centre released today a new vision to “stay at the forefront of space sector”. The policy largely calls for measures to improve existing strengths in areas like satellite communications, remote sensing, and space science. Included in the policy is the creation of an “international space facility” in the UK devoted to climate change and robotic space exploration as well as “closer involvement” in international space exploration programs. -- Space Politics

Unfortunately, practical, concrete solutions and efforts to actually do something about it are not receiving the same kind of interest or funding.

Further Reading:

• The Dangerous Threshold - a Destination, or Milestone?