Lather, Rinse, Repeat - WMO Notes Atmospheric GHG Content Hit Record High In 2022
The abundance of climate-heating gases in the atmosphere reached record highs in 2022, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported. The WMO said “there is no end in sight to the rising trend”, which is largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels.
The concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, is now 50% higher than before the start of the Industrial Revolution. The Earth has not experienced similar levels of CO2 for 3-5 million years, when the global temperature was 2-3C warmer and sea level was 10-20 metres higher than today, the WMO said.
The concentrations of the two other key greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, also grew, according to the report, published ahead of the UN’s Cop28 climate summit, which begins on 30 November. Greenhouse gas levels will continue to increase until emissions are cut all the way down to net zero, meaning global heating and the impacts of extreme weather will also continue to increase.
However, countries are failing to deliver on almost every policy required to cut emissions, despite progress on renewable energy and electric cars, according to a report published on Tuesday. It said, for example, that coal must be phased out seven times faster than is happening to avoid the worst impacts of global heating.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/15/climate-heating-gases-reach-record-highs-un-reports