Throughout history, people have never had to live in the atmosphere today

Humans officially entered an undiscovered territory. For about 2.5 million years on Earth, humans have never lived in the atmosphere today.

According to Science Alert, new research on ancient soil now confirms that the amount of carbon dioxide in the past 60 years is at the highest level we've ever experienced in human history.

During the entire Pleistocene era - starting 2,580,000 years ago - the authors found that the average concentration of CO ₂ was about 250 parts per million (ppm).

However, over the past sixty years, that consistency has rapidly changed. Today, the finding shows that our planet's CO2 levels reached 415 ppm for the first time in 2.5 million years.

The CO2 concentration on our planet reaches 415 ppm for the first time in 2.5 million years.

"According to this study, for the first time since Homo erectus, dating from 2.1 to 1.8 million years ago, until 1965, we lived in an environment of low carbon dioxide concentration - less than 320 ppm, " explains geologist Yige Zhang of Texas A&M University.

"So today's high carbon dioxide environment is not just a test for the climate and the environment - it's also an experiment for ourselves."

Concentration of CO ₂ in the air is at 415 ppm, the highest after 2.5 million years

To find out what the future we will be, we must first go back to the past. Past climate research, Zhang said, can provide some information and help us navigate our future.

Climate scientists often study ice cores to understand CO2 levels records in the history of the atmosphere. But these patterns are only true for hundreds of thousands of years, not millions of years.

To dig deeper into Earth's history, Zhang and his colleagues turned to explore the land. As a natural part of the Earth's carbon cycle, soil produces carbonate when it is formed and these tiny traces can be helpful, helping scientists figure out past climate indicators.

Analyzing carbonate in fossilized soil from the Loess Plateau in China, the team was able to recreate the amount of CO2 from millions of years ago.

"The Loess Plateau is an incredible place to learn about the wind, the accumulation of dust and soil , " Zhang said.

Although soil carbonate is only part of the ancient climate, the results from the Loess Plateau appear to match other estimates, made using ice cores and green ice records.

However, Zhang and his team were still not satisfied. They plan to improve soil analysis techniques to further improve their estimates, potentially using this technique on 23 million year old land.

"The past is the key to our future , " Zhang said.

"The Earth has a long history, and a lot of things from climate, life and the environment have changed. So it's very important when we learn about the past and can predict the future. ".

1. The concentration of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere reaches 415ppm: the highest since humans appear
2. Why is it only 0.04% of the atmosphere, but CO2 is still the main cause of global warming?