High levels of carbon monoxide (CO) have been detected in the
upper air in the Pacific Ocean region by Asia’s first climate-
monitoring aircraft, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. This
means that air convection can effectively spread man-made
pollution to areas high in the atmosphere, Wang Kuo-ying (王國英),
director of the Center for Environmental Studies, told a press
conference called to announce the figures gathered by a China
Airlines (CAL) aircraft and nine Evergreen Marine Corp ships
fitted with equipment to measure greenhouse gases in the earth’s
atmosphere. Since June, the CAL plane, fitted with an In-service
Aircraft for Global Observing System (IAGOS), has recorded CO
concentrations at the relatively high level of 270 parts per
billion by volume at about 10km above ground, the same as at
ground level, Wang said. Meanwhile, figures gathered by the
Evergreen ships since June 2009 show that carbon dioxide
concentrations in sea areas distant from industrial activities
averaged 392 parts per million (p