What is 350ppm

350ppm ( 350 parts per million) - That is the level to which climate scientists believes we need to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide (and by implication, other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere if we want to avoid a series of catastrophic climate tipping points.


The bad news? Atmospheric carbon is already at least 387 ppm, and the rate at which we're spewing greenhouse gases is increasing.Presently it is increasing by 2ppm every year.

For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Parts per million is simply a way of measuring the concentration of different gases, and means the ratio of the number of carbon dioxide molecules to all of the molecules in the atmosphere. 275 ppm CO2 is a useful amount—without some CO2 and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in our atmosphere, our planet would be too cold for humans to inhabit.

So if we have already crossed 350 ppm and the life on earth continues, where is the problem ? - well this is like saying that an overweight person or a person with cholestrol would die as soon as the diagnosis is made...he will start showing symptoms and the body is already ill. this is similar.. 2009 is recorded as the highest temperature year since it started rising ( from 1990). This is the tenth consecutive year of high temperature, artic ice caps have shrunk from its previous size and many animals / plants are on the verge of extinction, cases of drought & floods have increased, drinking water is a scarcity and so on