820,000 YEARS!

Carbon Dioxide Levels Are at 820,000-Year High, Scientists Find
Alex Morales, February 25, 2007 (Bloomberg News)
- Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are at their highest in 820,000 years, scientists examining a 3- kilometer (2-mile) ice core from Antarctica have found.
- Carbon dioxide acts to warm the Earth by trapping the sun's energy. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Feb. 2 said man-made emissions of greenhouse gases like CO2 are very likely causing global warming, and warned that average temperatures may rise by as much as 6.4 degrees Celsius (11.5 Fahrenheit), and sea-levels by 59 centimeters (23 inches) by 2100.

- In November 2005, scientists…wrote in the journal Science that the carbon dioxide levels haven't been exceeded at any point in the past 650,000 years. Scientists have since analyzed the remainder of the 3,270-meter ice core…[Eric Wolff, of the British Antarctic Survey said], ``…we could lengthen the time period to 820,000 years…The concentrations that we're seeing now are still the highest.''
- The historic concentrations of so-called greenhouse gases can be determined by examining air bubbles trapped in the ice thousands of years ago…
- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom all contributed scientists and funding…The Ice core was extracted from the Concordia Dome C scientific base at about 75 degrees south on the Antarctic plateau.
- International Polar Year (IPY) includes 228 different studies involving 50,000 scientists, students and support staff in more than 60 countries…