CO2 level is at record high, but Earth may cool for a decade

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 387 parts per million, the highest level in 650,000 years, and it has been rising by 2.1 ppm each year since 2000, NOAA scientists report. (About 150 years ago, the Earth’s CO2 level was 280 parts per million.)

Certainly the world warmed up from 1998 until last year. The question now is, will that warming continue at the same rate forever, or even warm faster with more CO2?

If the trend of the last 10 years continues, and Earth grew that much hotter each decade, many of us on coastal cities soon will be frying in unbearable heat and chased by rising oceans into the suburban highlands.

Cooling interim? But other scientists are predicting the next decade will be cooler. If the CO2 level is rising, and if increasing CO2 causes global warming, why would the world cool over the next decade? Scientists in Germany say natural shifts in ocean circulation will do the cooling and then, after the next decade, we’ll be heating up again.

Global warming is here, but let’s have more debate on what is causing it, how long it is likely and what the risks are. I think we’ve heard only one side so far.