As the proud successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and recently named the world’s top environmental think tank, C2ES provides independent analysis and innovative solutions to the twin challenges of energy and climate change.

Long-term Trends in Carbon Dioxide and Surface Temperature

As can been seen in this figure, throughout the millennia, there has been a clear correlation between carbon dioxide levels and average global surface temperatures. This provides strong evidence that CO2 is a major driver of global temperatures.

Scientists say the world is entering largely uncharted territory as atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise. Today’s carbon dioxide levels are substantially higher than anything that has occurred for more than 400,000 years.

 

Vostok Ice Core