The amount of CO2 in the air, measured at the Zeppelin Mountain station in Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, has increased substantially over the last 20 years.

The observatory is run by the Norwegian Polar Institute, with close collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Air Research and the Stockholm University.

It was measured 390 ppm of CO2 at Zeppelin station in December 2007. This is the highest amount ever recorded there. The observed increase of 8% for the last 20 years is a worrying sign for the future. There is a growing amount of other atmospheric gases too but it is CO2 that rises fastest of them all. Concentration of CO2 varies throughout a year, the minimum is observed in summer and the maximum in winter. However, the increase is clear and leaves no doubt.

"It is very dramatic because it shows that perhaps we underestimate the range of changes people might cause in the coming years", says the research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, Kim Holmén.

Read more: NRK Nyhetene (in Norwegian)

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Zeppelin Mountain station in Ny-Ålesund (photo: Adnan Icagic, Tromsø Museum)

CO2 concentration as measured at the Zeppelin Mountain station, Svalbard.