Islamabad, Oct 29: UN Agency Warns: Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit Record High in 2023. “The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that new data released by the United Nations on Monday showing that greenhouse gases have hit a record high shows once again that urgent action and not words are needed from the world’s major polluters to protect everyone from climate change.”
As world leaders get ready to convene for the UN Agency Climate Change Conference in Baku next month, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and others have issued numerous stark warnings about the human cost of ignoring the existential problem.
WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett told reporters in Geneva that carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the three primary greenhouse gases along with methane and nitrous oxide, is now building up in the atmosphere “faster than at any time experienced during human existence,” echoing the UN chief’s longstanding appeals. “We are committed to rising temperatures for many, many years to come,” she continued, citing the extraordinarily long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere.
The WMO’s 2024 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin serves as a sobering, fact-based warning that we must reduce the rise in CO2. According to WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch Network, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased from 377.1 parts per million (ppm) in 2004 to 420 ppm in 2023. Ms. Barrett clarified, “This is an increase of 42.9 parts per million, or 11.4%, in just 20 years.”
The deputy head of the WMO emphasized that these were more than just statistics. When it comes to the rate of ice and glacier loss, the acceleration of sea level rise, ocean heat, and acidification, every part per million and every fraction of a degree of temperature increase matters. It important because it affects our ecosystems and economies, the number of people who will be exposed to high heat each year, and the extinction of species.
According to WMO, the El Niño weather phenomena and forest fires are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, since they fueled drier conditions and a “surge” in gas concentrations in the latter part of 2023. According to its calculations, slightly less than half of CO2 emissions are retained in the atmosphere, slightly more than 25% are absorbed by the ocean, and slightly less than 30% are held on land.
Oksana Tarasova, senior scientific officer at WMO, called the Canadian wildfires of the previous year “absolutely dramatic” in terms of the quantity of greenhouse gases they created. She claimed that the CO2 levels of today are unprecedented “in the history of humanity.” Three to five million years ago was the last time we saw 400 parts per million of CO2. The sea levels were 10 to 20 meters higher during that time, and the temperature was three to four degrees warmer.
According to the WMO report, radiative forcing the warming effect of greenhouse gases on our climate rose 51.5% between 1990 and 2023. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, CO2 was responsible for over 80% of this increase.
According to the UN organization, “as long as emissions continue, greenhouse gases will continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, leading to a rise in global temperature.” “Even if emissions are quickly reduced to net zero, the temperature level already observed will persist for several decades due to the incredibly long life of CO2 in the atmosphere.”
The WMO Deputy Secretary-General said that politicians throughout the world do make reference to the most recent scientific climate findings and forecasts in their public statements when asked if it would be reasonable to expect the UN Agency climate summit to result in concrete pledges from nations. “I believe that they are paying attention, but the question is how much of that will be demonstrated at COP29,” she stated.
In order to protect future generations, Ms. Barrett stated that national initiatives to shift to a “lower fossil fuel economy” were crucial.”There will be a transformation and a downward trend in temperature in the future, so even though there is a lag and temperatures will rise, we are not to be dissuaded from action,” she stated. The speed at which we respond and lower those temperatures will determine everything.
