Another First: Carbon Levels Over 400ppm Worldwide

This takes my breath away:

The amount of carbon in the atmosphere is the highest it’s been in at least a million years. 

But that’s where we are. For the first time, carbon levels exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm) worldwide for the entire month of March, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and they expect it to continue into May. 
Until now, measurements of more than 400 ppm have been restrained to the northern hemisphere, notably the Arctic and Hawaii.

"It was only a matter of time that we would average 400 parts per million globally," says Pieter Tans, lead scientist at NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network. "We first reported 400 ppm when all of our Arctic sites reached that value in the spring of 2012. In 2013 the record at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory first crossed the 400 ppm threshold. Reaching 400 parts per million as a global average is a significant milestone.

At first, the threshold was crossed for a day, then last year, it happened earlier and lasted three months at those sites. In 2015, they rang in the new year over 400 ppm, and in March, the readings were the same across the world.

"At this pace we’ll hit 450 ppm within a few decades," warns Ralph Keeling, who does the measurements in Hawaii. 

Since the industrial revolution, humans have increased carbon in the atmosphere by about 160 ppm – half of that since 1980, says Tans. We are now pumping up 2-3 ppm a year, and warming is accelerating.

We can’t exceed 450 ppm without warming more than 2° Celsius (3.6°F), and most people believe the goal should be 350 ppm. We’re already experiencing weather that’s way too extreme, changing life as we know it on every level.

On March 31, Antarctica hit 63.5°. 

Carbon stays in the atmosphere for hundreds or thousands of years.

And what are they fighting about in Congress? Among other things, There’s No Need For Climate Research, Says GOP. They want to strip research from the Pentagon and from NASA and NOAA.