The U.N. weather agency announced yesterday that CO2 levels reached a new high in 2010 at 389 parts per million (ppm), up 2.3 ppm.
Levels of methane, another greenhouse gas (GHG), also rose last year, after a period of relatively stability.
The inexorable rise of CO2 (mainly due to us) is worrying enough, but this sudden rise in methane, if it continues, could accelerate climate change: Methane is a far more potent GHG than CO2. It's thought that the rise may be due the melting of permafrost in the northern latitudes, thanks to global warming. Perhaps we've reached a tipping point there.
I sincerely hope not.
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