GENEVA - The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has hit a new high, the UN said Monday, warning that drastic action is needed to achieve targets set by the Paris climate agreement.
“Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016 to the highest level in 800,000 years,” the World Meteorological Organization said.
“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 Nino event,” it said.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the UN weather agency’s annual flagship report, tracks the content of dangerous gasses in the atmosphere in the post-industrial era (since 1750).
Researchers have “reliable, direct measurements” of C02 concentrations rates going back 800,000 years using air bubbles preserved in ice in places like Greenland and Antarctica, the head of WMO’s atmospheric environment research division, Oksana Tarasova, told reporters in Geneva. (AFP)