The annual bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) photographs the unprecedented growth of the last 20 years: carbon dioxide marks +11.4%. Methane jumps due to microbial respiration, another indicator of the impact of global warming.
The levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere have increased by 11.4% in just 20 years. The accumulation proceeds “at a faster rate than at any other time in human history”: from 377.1 parts per million (ppm) in 2004, CO2 reached a record high of 420 ppm last year.
“Another year. Another record. This should set alarm bells ringing among politicians.
We are clearly off track to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement,” warns Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which released its annual report on the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere 2023 on October 28.
Greenhouse gas levels “like 3-5 million years ago”
The last time the Earth experienced a concentration of CO2 comparable to that of today was between 3 and 5 million years ago. The global temperature was 2-3°C higher than today, and sea levels were 10-20 meters higher.
The current value of carbon dioxide is 151% higher than the level of the pre-industrial era (before 1750). While for the other main greenhouse gases, methane and nitrogen oxides, they are 265% and 125% higher, respectively. The very rapid increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last two centuries means that the overall effect on the Earth’s climate system has yet to be fully shown. Meanwhile, from 1990 to 2023, the radiative forcing, or warming effect on our climate, caused by long-lived greenhouse gases increased by 51.5%. CO2 accounts for about 81% of this increase.
Water, between floods and droughts: this is what is happening in the world
The World Meteorological Organization provides results on the water cycle in its annual report. The picture is worrying because of climate change Insufficient water level
