This tattoo disturbed me – what does it mean? Axel Wilke Writes…
Earlier this year, I felt deep discomfort sitting next to a woman with a tattoo depicting some numbers. It reminded me of Hitler-Germany, when Jews had their prisoner ID tattooed when they went to a concentration camp. So I had to ask her: what was the meaning behind the numbers tattooed into her neck?
Well, the answer blew me away; nothing to do with the Nazis. She told me: “It was the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere when I was born. You can therefore work out how old I am.” Of course, the shocking part to those in the know is that CO2 concentration today is nearly 100 ppm higher. What a gigantic increase during her lifetime thus far!
That made me wonder – what if I described my life in CO2 concentrations (in parts per million)? Here’s what that looks like:
| Date of birth: | 320.9 |
| Finish primary school: | 331.5 |
| High school graduation: | 345.5 |
| Finish civil service: | 352.9 |
| Marriage #1: | 362.0 |
| University graduation (bachelor): | 363.3 |
| University graduation (masters): | 370.7 |
| Build house: | 372.8 |
| Own business: | 378.9 |
| Marriage #2: | 390.9 |
| Today: | 409.5 |
It won’t be that long before CO2 concentrations will have risen by 100 parts per million during my lifetime, too! I wonder what the prospect is for our children; those who started around the 400 mark?
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