1 Rising tide

The evidence that human carbon-dioxide (CO₂) emissions are responsible for a global rise in temperature is compelling. The level of CO₂ in the atmosphere has risen from 250 ppm before the industrial revolution to 380 ppm today, with the average temperature rising by about 1 °C over the same period. Information on past CO₂ levels has been gathered from gas trapped in ice cores, and since 1958 there has been continuous monitoring of CO₂ levels at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii.

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