We’re not even through the first month of 2020, and we already broke the record for the day with the most carbon dioxide in all of human history.

Carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere hit 415.79 parts per million (ppm) at Mauna Loa Observatory on Tuesday. It’s not surprising carbon dioxide levels hit a new daily high, but the new atmospheric record underscores the fact that carbon emissions are rising to new all-time highs when they need to be dropping.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide follow seesaw pattern over the course of a year, rising from fall into spring as plants decay and…