Record-Breaking Carbon Dioxide Increase in Atmosphere Hits New High in 2024

Switzerland:

The United Nations announced Wednesday that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere surged by the highest amount ever recorded last year, emphasizing the urgent need for emission reductions.

All three primary greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide - continued their upward trajectory in 2024, each establishing new record concentrations, according to the UN's weather and climate agency.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that the increase in atmospheric CO2 levels from 2023 to 2024 represented the largest one-year jump since record-keeping began in 1957.

This report, released ahead of the upcoming COP30 UN climate summit in Belem, Brazil (November 10-21), focuses specifically on greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

A forthcoming UN report next month will detail emissions changes, though these figures are also expected to increase as global consumption of oil, gas, and coal continues to rise.

This trend contradicts commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels (measured between 1850 and 1900) - and preferably to 1.5C.

The WMO expressed "significant concern" that land and oceans appear to be losing their capacity to absorb CO2, leaving more of this powerful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

"The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather," stated WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett.

"Reducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being."

The organization also noted that 2024 surpassed 2023 as the warmest year ever recorded.

"The levels of the three most abundant long-lived greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - reached new records in 2024," the WMO stated in its 21st annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

In 2024, atmospheric concentrations measured 424 parts per million (ppm) for CO2, 1,942 parts per billion for methane, and 338 parts per billion for nitrous oxide.

These figures represent increases of 152 percent, 266 percent, and 125 percent respectively compared to pre-industrial levels before 1750.

Among the three major greenhouse gases, CO2 accounts for approximately 66 percent of climate warming effects.

When the first Greenhouse Gas Bulletin was published in 2004, CO2 concentration stood at 377 ppm.

The WMO highlighted that the 3.5 ppm increase from 2023 to 2024 was "the largest one-year increase since modern measurements began in 1957".