national

CO2 concentration levels in Japan hit record highs in 2016

17 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© KYODO

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

17 Comments
Login to comment

Can you quantify the change that has occurred over the last 150 years?

I can't but some scientists who study climate can. The chart on the first link shows a bit of a change. Also, if you want to argue with these sites about how wrong they are, discuss it with them.

https://globalclimate.ucr.edu/resources.html

http://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Temperature-Change-Over-the-Last-100-Years

https://www2.ucar.edu/climate/faq/how-much-has-global-temperature-risen-last-100-years

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The climate today is changing at a pace that is without precedent. 

Can you quantify the change that has occurred over the last 150 years? Is the global temperature 1, 2, 3 degrees warmer than in 1850? How many meters have the oceans risen? How many more hurricanes are there today compared to any previous period in Earth's history? Yes there is more CO2 in the atmosphere but that in itself does not prove causation. What is the percentage of temperature increases does the consensus of scientists attribute to man and what can be attributed to other natural factors?

Given that scientists have often been wrong in the past (even the great Einstein has been wrong) I would like more evidence than a debunked study that states that 97% of the cherry picked scientific papers comprising a fraction of all scholarship on the issue believe that mankind is the primary cause of warming temperatures.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Isn't it obvious? The point is that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has changed dramatically over time regardless of the existence of human beings. Furthermore we are at the tail end of the Little Ice Age. Of course the climate is changing.

I am still left with the "so?" question unanswered. Climate scientists are well aware of the fact that climate has varied dramatically over time pre-human being. Its a logical fallacy to state that because of that, we can conclude that humans play no part in climate change occurring today (which seems to be the conclusion you are inviting us to draw?) Large scale changes in the climate in the past took place over thousands of years (except for rare instances like the impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago). The climate today is changing at a pace that is without precedent. Human activity is clearly introducing CO2 into the atmposphere which is without a doubt contributing to this in a major way. The changes to the climate we are introducing pose a serious threat to the fundamentals of our civilization that may realize themselves in this century.

But yeah, lets ignore all that because the climate changed in the past too before humans existed and we didn't have any problem with it then, so why should we worry about it now? This is what you are saying?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So why are you telling us what it was like millions of years ago

Isn't it obvious? The point is that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has changed dramatically over time regardless of the existence of human beings. Furthermore we are at the tail end of the Little Ice Age. Of course the climate is changing.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Wind! It is all about wind, an important point about CO2 as well as sand and even nuclear fall out. PM Abe should follow President Trump's lead and leave the Kyoto and Paris agreement. An open gate to pollute to other countries at the expense of Japanese and USA citizens is unacceptable. Perhaps a radiation check of the sand blowing into Japan will convince people that the Japanese and USA citizens have done 101% to reduce pollution of all forms.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Thinking of tritium rain as a factor Fukushima Daiichi has enough exposed tritium to rain down all over Japan... Lakes, streams and rivers could be exposed to tritium....

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The headline says "In Japan" so we immediately imagine this must be Tokyo or mainland Japan, but those three simple sample points are a HUGE triangle spread over the Pacific Ocean. Imagine that the prevailing winds are from the SW. The bottom two observation points are in Okinawa and Ogasawara, way away from Japan proper. What is interesting is that the CO2 they are recording must be global, (not necessarily Japanese, possibly somewhat Chinese) especially when you see the figures so close to each other, around 405- on the Pacific islands to a high of 407 ppm in Iwate.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The average CO2 concentration over the last 60 million years is 2500 parts per million. The all time high was 7000 parts per million. The optimum level for plant growth is between 1200 and 1500 parts per million. The lowest concentration was 200 parts per million.

So.....? Human civilization has only existed for less than 10,000 years in a relatively narrow band of climate variation. If we go back to what it was like 10s of millions of years ago then large areas including most major cities would be underwater and most of our current agricultural system would collapse (along with food supplies). So why are you telling us what it was like millions of years ago, you want us to go back to what it was like then (a world in which modern humans didn't exist but gigantic insects and other bizarre life forms that couldn't exist in our current climate thrived)?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This is expected, CO2 remains in the atmosphere for decades, so it's rise in concentration is exponential. This is the carbon trap and is one of the main reasons why it is probably already too late to limit the average temperature rise to 2 degrees by the end of the century. Keep in mind that 2 degrees globally translates to about 10 degrees plus in the Arctic due to polar amplification, so there is also an exponential spiral that will occur once Greenland starts melting. It is a far, far more serious issue than most think

2 ( +2 / -0 )

3~4 ppm increase is such a minuscule increase and CO2 is a tiny percentage of the overall atmosphere as it is. If I have the math right, if a basketball arena has 10,000 balls piled up on the court, CO2 levels would be equal to only 4 balls. It's a trace gas in the atmosphere even after 150 years of industrialization. Water vapor is what really matters.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@Triring - Absolutely correct. No one wants to shut off their power, stop driving, or make the other "sacrifices" required to lower CO2 emissions, especially those that are travelling the world in private jets tell us to reduce our emissions while they continue to spew out CO2. There are consequences to energy use and at this time no easy solutions. I am very much pro solar, wind, and any other such source of energy however the technology is not available (yet) to replace carbon based or nuclear power. I am confident, however, that the day will come.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

You condemn Japan for this and also condemn Japan for running nuclear power plants?

GEEZ, make up you mind already. There are no quick fixes for this problem.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The average CO2 concentration over the last 60 million years is 2500 parts per million. The all time high was 7000 parts per million. The optimum level for plant growth is between 1200 and 1500 parts per million. The lowest concentration was 200 parts per million.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Darn those pesky Chinese with the climate change expertise.

And why did Kan turn off all the nuclear reactors? Oh yeah wasn't there some nuclear disaster somewhere? Nah, it was all political.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Higher CO2 levels now must have to do with all the tritium water tanks at Fukushima Daiichi. Tritium evaporates just like regular water but has a far higher temperature. Eroding the ozone layer and keeping heat and pollution in the atmosphere

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Hmm. What changed since the Kyoto accord. I wonder. Oh yeah. Kan turned off all the nuclear reactors and forced utilities to use coal, oil and gas.

So blame this on the DPJ and anti-nuclear hysteria everyone. You asked for CO2, and you got it!

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

KKyoto agreement anyone?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites