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According to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the levels of carbon dioxide in the air increased by 3 parts per million during 2016, and levels have continued to increase during the first few months of 2017. NOAA scientist Pieter Tans said carbon dioxide levels have risen 100 times faster during the last decade than the during the transition from the last Ice Age.

Worldwide levels of carbon dioxide - the gas scientists say is most responsible for global warming - reached a significant milestone for the month of March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. The global monthly average for carbon dioxide hit 400.83 parts per million in March, the first time the average surpassed 400 ppm for an entire month since such measurements began in the late 1950s, NOAA said.

Global carbon dioxide levels averaged 400.83 parts per million in March, marking the first time that atmospheric carbon has remained above the 400 ppm threshold for an entire month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's both disturbing and daunting," said NOAA chief greenhouse gas scientist Pieter Tans. 

pilot project that sought to demonstrate that carbon dioxide emissions could be locked up by turning them into rock appears to be a success. Tests at the CarbFix project in Iceland indicate that most of the CO2 injected into basalt turned into carbonate minerals in less than two years, far shorter a time than the hundreds or thousands of years that scientists had once thought such a process would take. Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/iceland-carbon-capture-project-quickly-converts-carbon-dioxide-stone-180959365/#GpYzrDcLOjF1tUZx.99 Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

Satellite readings show that atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide are continuing to increase despite global efforts to reduce emissions. Methane concentrations were somewhat constant until 2007, but since then have increased at about 0.3% per year, whereas global carbon dioxide levels continue to rise at about 0.5% per year. The world's atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide levels continue to climb despite endeavors to rein in global emissions, new research shows. Carbon levels have risen by 0.5% per year since 2007, and methane levels are rising at about 0.3% per year.

Atmospheric carbon levels have reached 402 parts per million, the highest level in about 800,000 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. "Humans have caused carbon dioxide concentrations to rise 120 ppm since preindustrial times, with over 90% of that in the past century alone," said James Butler, director of NOAA's Global Monitoring Division

For the first time in human history and likely for the first time in at least 800,000 years, the average level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere topped 400 parts per million for an entire month.

BMW Group, Daimler, and other carmakers in the European Union would be required to improve the fuel economy of their vehicles or increase the proportion of electric cars they produce to meet 2030 carbon dioxide reduction targets proposed by the European Commission Nov. 8.

The US could cut its carbon dioxide emissions 20% more by using the Clean Power Plan, according to the Energy Information Administration. The report said carbon dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants have been declining for a decade, but the nation could further accelerate that shift by employing the CPP. Rice University Associate Professor Daniel Cohan argues that the report emphasizes the importance of the ongoing litigation over the CPP and how far the US still has to go to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets.

The growing acidity of the oceans as they absorb ever more carbon dioxide, a factor exacerbated in the winter, raises concerns for the most basic marine life. An Antarctic study of the bottom of the ocean's food chain involves a mooring as tall as the Empire State Building submerged at 1,600 feet and equipped with sensors recording temperature, dissolved carbon dioxide, salinity and pH.

The nation's largest electric producers continue to substantially reduce emissions of key air pollutants, the latest comprehensive analysis of U.S. power plant emissions shows. The new report analyzed publicly reported data on carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and mercury emissions from the nation's 100 largest electric power producers, which account for 85 percent of the nation's power production.

James Cook University researchers are teaming with Australia's Fibercon company to create a greener concrete by using recycled plastic to reinforce it. "Using plastic to reinforce concrete instead of steel can reduce carbon dioxide production by about 50%," said Rabin Tuladhar, associate dean of engineering at the institution. "However, with recycled plastic, you can save 50% more carbon dioxide than you could with virgin plastic -- because you are using plastic that has already been made and repurposing it."

It has already been established that climate change-specifically atmospheric carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuel burning-has been acidifying the oceans, damaging fragile coral reefs and disturbing vulnerable marine ecosystems. But the McGill scientists discovered that carbon dioxide also has begun to drift to the ocean bottom, dissolving the very materials that help put the brakes on acidification.

The first chart shows atmospheric CO2 levels in recent years, with average seasonal cycle removed. The second chart shows CO2 levels during the last three glacial cycles, as reconstructed from ice cores.

The amount of carbon in the atmosphere will hit 400 parts per million this year and will remain above that level for many decades to come, scientists say. The milestone is being reached sooner than expected, raising questions about the planet's ability to avert catastrophic climate change.

The ability of Europe's aging forests to absorb carbon dioxide is heading towards saturation point, threatening one of the continent's main defenses against global warming, a study showed on Sunday.

The map shows the world's carbon emissions from 1997 to 2010, say the scientists who made it. The data came from satellite measurements and reported emissions rates from factories and power plants, among other sources.

Global atmospheric greenhouse-gas levels surged last year at the fastest rate yet recorded, sparking concerns that climate change could be happening faster than expected, according to a new report from the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization. "We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme. ... Time is not on our side, for sure," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud

Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced it will retrofit 19 of its ships with advanced emissions purification (AEP) systems, also known as scrubbers, which will remove more than 97 percent of the sulfur dioxide emissions generated by the ships' diesel engines.

Now June will be the third month in a row with average carbon dioxide levels above 400 parts per million. Atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gas, which helps drive global warming, haven't been this high in somewhere between 800,000 and 15 million years.