Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle.
Our Daily Planet is a daily morning email (M-F) to keep you informed of the stories shaping our environment. If these issues matter to you, we’d like to be the best ten minutes of your morning.
This is yet more proof that climate change is man-made — the scientists found that the extra CO2 in the atmosphere has caused temperatures to rise to levels that cannot be explained by natural factors.
The scientists found, using sophisticated computer models, that at the beginning of this current geological period “sea levels were as much as 65 feet higher than they are now, Greenland was mostly green and Antarctica had trees.
According to government data, carbon dioxide, which is called a “greenhouse gas” because it traps solar radiation and keeps it confined to the Earth’s atmosphere, is responsible for 63% of the warming attributable to all greenhouse gases.
According to The Guardian, at the beginning of the industrial revolution, CO2 was at 280 PPM in the atmosphere, but by the time the U.S. government took its first measurements at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, it had reached 315 PPM, and it first exceeded 400ppm in 2013. In order to make their readers more aware of the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, The Guardian announced that it will now publish the Mauna Loa carbon count, which is the global benchmark, on its weather page of the paper every day. The Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner explained, that “including a measure of [carbon] in our daily weather report is symbolic of what human activity is doing to our climate. People need reminding that the climate crisis is no longer a future problem – we need to tackle it now, and every day matters.”
Why This Matters: We need reminders that carbon dioxide levels are increasing every day and billions of tons of carbon pollution continue to pour into the air every year. These gasses are odorless and colorless, but they are damaging our health even though we are largely unaware of them. As we reported last week, these toxic gasses in the air are literally taking years off our lives. Maybe more news outlets should do the same thing as The Guardian — report regularly on the global CO2 levels, and perhaps even more specific information about local pollution levels too. While currently there are “code red” days, which weather forecasters issue when air quality reaches unhealthy levels, there is no public reporting on the actual levels of certain pollutants. Would that help to motivate us all to do what it will take to cut harmful air pollution?
Delegates attending the COP26 conference in Glasgow will get to see a very cool display during their stay. So cool, in fact, that it’s been frozen since 1765. Artist Wayne Binitie and scientists of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have retrieved an Antarctic time capsule containing the world’s purest air. The pocket of atmosphere was […]
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The European Environment Agency (EEA) found that a majority of EU countries broke at least one air pollution limit last year — despite COVID-19 lockdowns. In addition, 17 EU countries failed to stay below ozone pollution targets, which directly influence global warming; and eight EU countries failed to stay […]
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer An Indonesian district court ruled yesterday that Indonesian President Joko Widodo has neglected Jakarta’s residents right to clean air. In a unanimous ruling in favor of the 32 residents who brought the case, the Central Jakarta District Court ordered Widodo, and six other top officials deemed negligent, to improve […]
Subscribe to the email that top lawmakers, renowned scientists, and thousands of concerned citizens turn to each morning for the latest environmental news and analysis.
Want the lastest climate news summarized for you each morning?
Our Daily Planet is your daily dose of the stories shaping our world and the ways that you can take action. From the climate crisis to the protection of biodiversity, if these issues matter to you then please subscribe & stay informed!
Your privacy is Important! We promise never to use your email address to send you spam or advertisements.