CO2 levels and global tempatures reach new heights.
EDITOR’S NOTE Energy Briefs is a weekly recollection of local, regional and national news regarding some of the most intriguing updates regarding energy, water, and the environment.
Last week scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that in 2016 the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide recorded the second biggest jump in the concentration of carbon on record - CO2 nearly doubled its pace since 1979.
As part of its Greenhouse Gas Index, the NOAA found that concentration of other greenhouse gasses such as methane and nitrous oxide also increased during 2016 elevating the heating effect of all greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere by 2.5 percent.
Carbon Dioxide stays in the atmosphere for decades, even if emissions level off in the near future, inevitably the concentration will keep rising and result in additional warming and sea level rise.
“The warming effect of these chemicals we’re tracking has increased by 40 percent since 1990,” wrote Steve Montzka, a NOAA scientist who authored the latest update. “Even though emissions are leveling off, CO2 is so long-lived that the concentration is still increasing. Getting the atmospheric concentration to also level off would require reducing emissions by 80 percent.”
The 80 percent cut was the target under the Paris Climate Agreement, but just last week, President Donald Trump announced his intention of withdrawing the United States from the agreement.
EPA
Environmentalist groups scored a victory last week in their fight against the deregulation efforts in the federal government as a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council forced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reinstate a rule designed to protect the public from mercury discharges from dental offices.
The EPA under the previous administration issued the Mercury Effluent Rule on December 15 and later withdrew it after the change in administration.
“EPA is taking an important step towards safeguarding Americans from a dangerous neurotoxin. The agency decided to reissue the rule, instead of defending in court the decision to withdraw it,” said Margaret Hsieh an attorney who is part of the NRDC legal team. “Protecting the public — and not responding to a lawsuit — should have been motivation enough for this sensible action.”
Mercury can disrupt brain function and harm the nervous system. It is especially harmful to pregnant women, babies and young children, even at tiny levels of exposure.
Heat waves
The final week of May and the first week of June brought intense heat waves to different parts of the Middle East and Asia.
Temperatures in Turbat, Pakistan, reached 128.3 degrees on May 28 officially making it Earth’s hottest temperature ever recorded in the month of May. Also during the heat wave, alltime national heat records for the month of May were set in Iran, Norway and Austria.
The hottest recorded temperature in the planet is 129.2 degrees, set on July 2016 in Mitribah, Kuwait.