20130510_DS
Source: BBC TV News
URL: N/A
Date: 10/05/2013
Event: David Shukman: "we're at 400 parts per million, and rising"
Attribution: BBC TV News
People:
- Fiona Bruce: British newsreader and journalist
- David Shukman: Science Editor, BBC News
Fiona Bruce: Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have reached their highest recorded level. CO2 is a factor in global warming, and environmental campaigners are calling this a landmark moment. I'm joined by our Science Editor, David Shukman. David, explain the significance of this, for us.
David Shukman: Well, this is something of a milestone, and has long been regarded as that, although it's symbolic and doesn't really change anything overnight unless you look at the context. If you go back over the last million years, we've had natural climate change - ice ages, warm periods. The CO2 level never got above 280 parts per million. Well now, we're at 400 parts per million, and rising. So, what does this mean? Well, scientists have known for ages that carbon dioxide can warm the atmosphere. What they're wrestling with is the precise effect it could have, in coming decades. But here's the thing with carbon dioxide. Once it's up in the atmosphere it hangs around in the air for at least a century. So, even if the impact is not immediate, we may well be risking storing up trouble for future generations.
Fiona Bruce: David, thanks very much.