Study Says High C02 LevelsWill Have Major Effects for 1,000 Years

Levels of carbon dioxide already emitted by humans are sufficient to cause major changes in climate for 1,000 years, according to a study by scientists in the U.S. and Europe. The study’s lead author, Susan Solomon ”“ senior scientist at the U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ”“ said CO2 is so persistent in the atmosphere that it should be thought of “more like nuclear waste than acid rain.” Solomon and colleagues from the U.S., Switzerland, and France said levels of carbon dioxide, currently at 385 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere, are rising so rapidly that concentrations could hit 600 ppm by century’s end, an extremely high level not seen in millions of years and one that could cause large sea level rises and major climate disruption worldwide. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the ocean is absorbing much of the atmosphere’s increased heat and will be releasing heat back into the atmosphere for hundreds of years.