The UN has announced record levels of carbon dioxide in the world’s atmosphere.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin report stated that the last time CO2 levels were at this level was three to five million years ago in the mid-Pliocene era. During this period, the climate then was an average of 2-3 degrees warmer, and sea levels were up to 20 meters higher.
Professor Euan Nisbet from Royal Holloway University of London said: “The 3ppm CO2 growth rate in 2015 and 2016 is extreme – double the growth rate in the 1990-2000 decade,”
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said: “Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016,”
“Globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño event,”
Following the news, there has been increased pressure to see goals achieved from the Paris Climate Agreement – a challenge following Donald Trump’s decision to quit the accord.
“Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement,” said Petteri Taalas, WMO chief.
The report was released a week before the next instalment of UN climate talks, which will be held in Bonn.
“This should set alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power. We know that, as climate change intensifies, the ability of the land and oceans to mop up our carbon emissions will weaken. There’s still time to steer these emissions down and so keep some control, but if we wait too long humankind will become a passenger on a one-way street to dangerous climate change,” said Dave Reay, a professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburgh.