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Heat and drought led to the largest recorded spike in carbon levels
In 2015 and 2016, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite recorded spikes in the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. These were 50 percent larger than expected increases. Now, a series of new studies set to publish tomorrow in Science can tell us why. Eighty percent of the spike, or the equivalent of 2.5 gigatons of carbon, occurred because of natural processes due to drought and high temperatures in South America, Africa and Indonesia.
June marked 14 straight months of record high temperatures
Thanks to the ocean warming effects of El Niño and the global warming effects of humans in general, planet Earth just experienced its warmest June on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports today. The extremely warm June marks 14 straight months of record-breaking warmth, and the longest hot streak on record.
El Niño might push CO2 levels to a symbolic high this year
The amount of CO2 measured atop Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano could end up reaching a record high throughout 2016 thanks to the recent El Niño weather phenomenon, the BBC reports. According to a study from the UK Met Office, the volcano's recorded CO2 levels could stay above 400 parts per million for the entire year, in part because El Niño has had a drying effect in the tropics. You might remember that the NOAA also announced the highest recorded jump in CO2 levels at Mauna Loa earlier this year -- El Niño is just exacerbating humanity's troubling effect on the environment.
