Carbon dioxide levels rising faster than expected

Levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere have increased faster than expected during the past few years, according to an international team of scientists who attribute the sharp rise in CO₂ levels to three factors.

Since 2000, a growing global economy, an increase in the carbon emissions required to produce each unit of economic activity, and a decreasing efficiency of carbon sinks on land and in oceans have combined to produce the most rapid seven-year increase in atmospheric CO₂ since the beginning of continuous atmospheric monitoring in 1959. The research findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).

Read coverage of the findings here.