This isn't good. Last year, I remember stumbling across an article that said our carbon dioxide could pass a daily average of 400 parts per million (ppm) in at least four years. That number is significant because it's an atmospheric concentration not seen in human history. Over the weekend, like a sequel that was rushed to theaters without time for screening from critics, the New York Times reported we've now gone beyond that milestone: 

Scientific monitors reported that the gas had reached an average daily level that surpassed 400 parts per million — just an odometer moment in one sense, but also a sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering.

The best available evidence suggests the amount of the gas in the air has not been this high for at least three million years, before humans evolved, and scientists believe the rise portends large changes in the climate and the level of the sea.

The whole article is worth reading.

Key quote: “If you start turning the Titanic long before you hit the iceberg, you can go clear without even spilling a drink of a passenger on deck,” said Richard B. Alley, a climate scientist at the Pennsylvania State University. “If you wait until you’re really close, spilling a lot of drinks is the best you can hope for.”

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