- Title: FILE: Atmospheric CO2 at new record as fossil fuel emissions heat planet
- Date: 20th September 2024
- Summary: DONGES, FRANCE (FILE - JANUARY 13, 2023) (REUTERS) TRUCK DRIVING PAST NEAR OIL REFINERY GAS FLARE REFINERY IN DISTANCE DONGES, FRANCE (FILE - JANUARY 8, 2020) (REUTERS) TOTAL LOGO ON REFINERY GRANDPUITS, FRANCE (FILE - MAY 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TOTAL'S GRANDPUITS REFINERY TULA, HIDALGO, MEXICO (FILE - JUNE 22, 2020) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) GAS BURNING AT REFINERY/
- Embargoed: 4th October 2024 12:01
- Keywords: climate change coal emissions energy fossil fuels gas lng natural gas oil pollution
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Climate Change,Environment,Europe,General News,Government / Politics,Climate Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001466817092024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday (October 28) that that greenhouse gases have been accumulating in the atmosphere "faster than any time experienced during human existence" over the last two decades.
Carbon dioxide concentrations hit a new high of 420 parts per million (ppm) last year, up 2.3 ppm from a year earlier, and they have risen by 11.4% in just 20 years, the U.N.'s weather monitoring body said in its annual greenhouse gas bulletin.
There are already signs that rising temperatures are driving dangerous "feedbacks" that will further increase atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, the report warned.
Last year's increase in CO2 concentrations, the second largest annual rise of the last decade, could have been driven by a surge in forest fires, with the carbon released from Canada's worst ever wildfire season exceeding the annual emissions of most major countries.
CO2 concentrations are now 51% higher than pre-industrial levels, while methane - another potent greenhouse gas - is 165% higher than in 1750, WMO said.
The burning of coal, oil and gas across the world is the main driver of climate change. The planet has already warmed about 1.3C above the pre-industrial average, and the last decade has been the hottest since records began, with European Union scientists "virtually certain" it to be the hottest of the last 125,000 years.
Climate scientists say for the world to meet the 2015 Paris target of limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius, — a threshold that is considered to avert the worst impacts of climate change, including an exponential sea-level rise that would severely jeopardise coastal cities globally — no further expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure should occur.
In spite of scientific warnings that have spanned decades, the majority of fossil-fuel producing economies are expanding or exploring further production, including into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and natural gas.
The production and consumption of fossil fuels also has large environmental impacts, from worsening air quality to local pollution and contamination.
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