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Title: Global CO2 levels in atmosphere hit new highs in May despite lockdowns
Source:Mint
Date:5 June 2020

A key measure of carbon dioxide emissions in the Earth's atmosphere hit a record in May even as a global pandemic brought the world's economies to a virtual standstill this year, according to U.S. government data published on 4 June 2020. Carbon dioxide recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reached 417 parts per million (ppm) in May 2020, higher than the record of 414.8 ppm set last year, according to the announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. The drop in worldwide emissions due to the coronavirus outbreak estimated to be as much as 26 percent in some countries during the peak of government confinement orders -- fails to cancel out the large natural variations in carbon emissions caused by how plants and soils react to temperature, humidity and other factors, scientists said. It would take carbon dioxide reductions of 20% to 30% for six to 12 months to slow the rate of increase in the measurements at Mauna Loa, Scripps said in a statement. In May 2020, research published in the journal Nature Climate Change predicted that global emissions could fall by up to 7% in 2020.




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