(Update: On 11 Oct 2021 the Reed College Board of Trustees announced its decision to divest the college’s endowment from fossil fuels. Read about it here.)
- 403 ppm – CO2 level measured at Mauno Loa in April 2015
- 401 ppm – CO2 level, April 2014.
- 393 ppm – CO2 level, April 2011, current graduating class finished high school.
- 356 ppm – CO2 level, April 1989. I began teaching at Reed.
- 319 ppm – CO2 level, April 1961. Reed turns 50.
CO2 levels are rising faster than ever.
C&E News, the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society, says, “The CO2 level was hovering around 280 ppm prior to the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s, but the level has been creeping up because of the increased burning of fossil fuels. The data show that half of the 120-ppm increase since 1850 has occurred after 1980 and that the growth rate is increasing and now stands at 2.25 ppm per year.”
Can Reed College really pretend that 1961-era thinking about investments and global responsibility still apply today? Can anyone?
