About 350
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Where We’ve Been
For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide.
Parts per million means the ratio of the number of carbon dioxide molecules per million other molecules in the atmosphere.
275 ppm CO2 is a useful amount—without some CO2 and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in our atmosphere, our planet would be too cold for humans to inhabit.
Where We Are
Beginning in the 18th century, humans began to burn coal and gas and oil to produce energy and goods, and the amount of carbon in the atmosphere began to rise.
Burning coal and oil takes millions of years worth of carbon, which has been stored beneath the earth, and releases it into the atmosphere. This increases the amount of solar radiation which gets trapped as heat, warms the atmosphere and changes the climate.
By now, the planet has 390 parts per million CO2 – and this number is rising by about 2 parts per million every year.*
What This Means
The consequences of a warming world are numerous and dramatic, and they’re happening now, including:
- Glaciers, a source of drinking water for hundreds of millions of people, are melting and disappearing fast.
- Mosquitoes, who like a warmer world, are expanding their habitat, and bringing malaria and dengue fever with them.
- Numerous plant and animal species – the polar bear being the most well-known example – are threatened with extinction as their habitats change faster than their ability to adapt to those changes. In Vermont, the sugar maple is one of the most threatened species.
- Drought is becoming much more common, making food harder to grow in many places. Australia has been suffering a catastrophic six-year drought which is threatening the whole continent’s food supply.
- Sea levels have begun to rise, and scientists warn that they could go up as much as several meters this century. If that happens, many of the world’s cities, island nations, and farmland will be underwater.
- The oceans are growing more acidic because of the CO2 they are absorbing. This is threatening coral reefs, which support a quarter of marine life, and making it harder for animals like clams to build and maintain their shells and skeletons.
These impacts are combining to exacerbate conflicts and security issues in already resource-strapped regions.
What About 350?
Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe upper limit for humanity – otherwise the climate will change too dramatically to successfully support life as we know it on the planet.
This is, of course, the thumbnail sketch of an enormously complex issue. For more detailed information, please visit the 350 website, as well as our Educational Resources page.
So What Do We Do?
We need an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions fast. The United Nations is working on a treaty, which is supposed to be completed in December of 2009 at a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The international climate group 350.org, co-founded by Vermonter and author Bill McKibben, is working to increase public awareness of the climate crisis and build a global movement demanding a solid and effective climate treaty.
The 350 International Day of Action on October 24 is all about:
- Increasing pressure on our political leaders to create and ratify a powerful treaty when they meet in Copenhagen in December.
- Educating ourselves and our communities about how to live more lightly and sustainably on the planet.
Thanks for joining us, and welcome to the Dance Party!
*P.S. Yes, it’s true, we haven’t talked about methane or any of the other wickedly nasty greenhouse gasses, but note above (issue, enormously complex).
Think of CO2 as the greenhouse gas version of Charismatic Megafauna - i.e. the Blue Whale of Global Warming. You focus on the Big Thing which gets peoples’ attention, and then hopefully you can sweep everything else up along the way.
