Antarctica has become the last place on earth to reach atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of 400 parts per million. The level was breached in New Zealand a few weeks ago.
“The pole has shown the same, relentless upward trend in CO2 as the rest of world, but its remote location means it’s the last to register the impacts of increasing emissions from fossil fuel consumption, the primary driver of greenhouse gas pollution.
“The far Southern Hemisphere was the last place on earth where CO2 had not yet reached this mark,” said Pieter Tans, the lead scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network.
Part of last year’s jump was attributable to El Nino, the cyclical Pacific Ocean warming that produces extreme weather across the globe, causing terrestrial ecosystems to lose stored CO2 through wildfire, drought and heat waves.