New Delhi: Greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high in 2022 with “no end in sight to the rising trend”, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a report.
Global averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas, in 2022 were a full 50% above the pre-industrial era for the first time. They continued to grow in 2023, as per the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.
Methane concentrations also grew, and levels of nitrous oxide, the third main gas, saw the highest year-on-year increase on record from 2021 to 2022, according to the Greenhouse Bulletin.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin comes ahead of the UN climate change conference COP28 which opens in Dubai in two weeks.
Fossil fuels , coal, oil and gas account for most greenhouse gas emissions, which trap the sun’s heat, leading to global warming and climate change.
“Despite decades of warnings from the scientific community, thousands of pages of reports and dozens of climate conferences, we are still heading in the wrong direction,” said Petteri Taalas, the WMO Secretary-General.
The current trajectory “puts us on the pathway of an increase in temperatures well above the Paris Agreement targets by the end of this century,” he added, referring to efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
As a result, countries will experience more extreme weather, including intense heat and rainfall, ice melt, sea-level rise and ocean heat and acidification.
“The socioeconomic and environmental costs will soar,” he warned. “We must reduce the consumption of fossil fuels as a matter of urgency.”
WMO explained that just under half of CO2 emissions remain in the atmosphere, while over a quarter are absorbed by the ocean and just under 30 per cent by “land ecosystems” such as forests.
As long as emissions continue, CO2 will continue accumulating in the atmosphere leading to global temperature rise. Furthermore, given its long life, the temperature level already observed will persist for several decades even if emissions are rapidly reduced to net zero.
The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3 to 5 million years ago, when the temperature was 2 to 3°Celsius warmer and sea level was 10 to 20 metres higher.
“There is no magic wand to remove the excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Mr. Taalas.
A WMO initiative announced this year aims to ensure sustained, routine global monitoring of greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes to improve understanding around climate change and support action on mitigation.
Mr. Taalas said the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch “will greatly improve sustained observations and monitoring to support more ambitious climate goals.”
The WMO Bulletin devotes its cover story to the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch, which was approved by the World Meteorological Congress in May.
This ambitious initiative envisages sustained greenhouse gas monitoring in order to be able to account for both human activities related and natural sources and sinks.
It will provide vital information and support for the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and aiming for 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Carbon dioxide is the single most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, accounting for approximately 64% of the warming effect on the climate, mainly because of fossil fuel combustion and cement production.
The agency said that the development of an El Niño event in 2023 may therefore have consequences for greenhouse gas concentrations.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas which remains in the atmosphere for about a decade and it accounts for about 19% of the warming effect of long-lived greenhouse gases.
Approximately 40% of methane is emitted into the atmosphere by natural sources example, wetlands and termites.
Nitrous Oxide is both a powerful greenhouse gas and ozone depleting chemical. It accounts for about 7% of the radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases.
N2O is emitted into the atmosphere from both natural sources (approximately 60%) and anthropogenic sources (approximately 40%), including oceans, soils, biomass burning, fertilizer use, and various industrial processes.
