Question: Open the Climate Trends learning tool and turn on a few of the atmospheric gas trends in the most recent 250 years. How much have concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide changed in the last 250 years?

Click and drag a section of the graph to zoom in and find the most recent concentrations of the gases. Current concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases are higher than in any period throughout measured history. After looking at the data trends, it is clear that the concentrations of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane have increased dramatically from historical levels.

Question: Determine the rate at which carbon dioxide increased in the past 25 years. Assuming that it will continue to rise at this rate, what will the CO₂ concentration be in 2025? 2050?