Greenhouse Gasses Growing?

The atmosphere might be accumulating carbon dioxide — the gas most associated with the greenhouse effect that some scientists say is causing global warming — at an accelerated rate, new figures suggest.

Britain's Guardian newspaper reports an American observatory that has tracked CO2 since 1958 has recorded readings well above average over the past two years.

The Mauna Loa Observatory normally sees CO2 levels rise about 1.6 parts per million a year. The last two years, the rises have been 2.08ppm and 2.54ppm respectively.

"The rise in the annual rate of CO2 increase to above two parts per million for two consecutive years is a real phenomenon," Dr. Charles Keeling of Mauna Loa Observatory told The Guardian.

"It is possible that this is merely a reflection of natural events like previous peaks in the rate, but it is also possible that it is the beginning of a natural process unprecedented in the record," he said.

Other scientists warned that small variations in the CO2 level over two years do not represent an identifiable trend. There have been leaps in the CO2 level before. And the increase in CO2 might not be uniform around the globe.

"I don't think an increase of 2 ppm for two years in a row is highly significant - there are climatic perturbations that can make this occur," David J Hofmann of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "But the absence of a known climatic event does make these years unusual."

The current rise does not appear to be explained by the El Nino effect or any rise in emissions from cars or power plants.

It instead could be a result of a "feedback" effect, in which global warming has reduced the planet's ability to absorb CO2, eventually leading to more global warming.

A feedback effect could occur if higher global temperatures result in deforestation, and the loss of forest reduces the amount of CO2 absorbed by plants worldwide.

A different feedback effect occurs when higher temperatures melt ice, meaning less sunlight is reflected back into space and more heat is absorbed by the earth, raising temperatures even more.

Feedback effects would heighten already steep concerns about the impact of global warming as a result of the greenhouse effect in which gasses like CO2 build up in the atmosphere and increase the amount of heat absorbed from the sun's rays.

A grim report this summer said Europe needs to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions — and fast — or risk rising sea levels, melting glaciers in the Alps and more deadly heat waves.

Climate change "will considerably affect our societies and environments for decades and centuries to come," the 107-page report by the European Environment Agency said.

The 1990s were the warmest decade on record, and the three hottest years recorded — 1998, 2002 and 2003 — occurred in the last six years, the EEA said. The global warming rate is now almost 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.

The report singled out summer floods across Europe two years ago and last year's summer heat wave in western and southern Europe as recent examples of how destructive extreme weather can be.

The flooding killed about 80 people in 11 countries, affected more than 600,000 and caused economic losses of at least $18.5 billion, according to the agency.

More than 20,000 deaths, many among elderly people, were recorded during the European heat wave in 2003, which also caused up to 30 percent of crop harvests in many southern countries to fail, the EEA said.

Melting reduced the mass of the Alpine glaciers by one-tenth in 2003 alone, and three-quarters of those glaciers could disappear by 2050, the report said.

Sea levels along European shores rose by 0.03-0.12 inches per year in the last century. The rate of increase is projected to be 2-4 times higher during this century.

The Russian Cabinet last month approved the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming, clearing the way for parliament's vote on the pact, which needs Russia's support to take effect, the Interfax news agency reported.

President Vladimir Putin in May pledged to speed up approval in return for European Union support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

The EU has long urged Russia to ratify the pact, which must be approved by no fewer than 55 countries that accounted for at least 55 percent of global emissions in 1990. That minimum now can be reached only with Russia on board because the United States, China and some other big industrial nations have rejected the treaty.

The United States, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has refused to sign, arguing the agreement would be harmful to its economy.

The U.S. also objected to what it thought was inappropriately lenient treatment of emissions from developing nations, which — while not today's biggest polluters — are the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gasses.