Greenhouse gas concentrations surged to new record last year, UN experts warn

Levels of greenhouse gases surged to a record level in 2023, locking in future temperature rises for years to come, UN experts have warned.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said carbon dioxide (CO2) is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than any time experienced during human existence, having risen by more than 10% in just two decades.

In its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, released on Monday, the WMO said globally-averaged surface concentrations of the greenhouse gases CO2, methane and nitrous oxide reached 151%, 265% and 125% of pre-industrial levels respectively in 2023.

The increase was driven by large vegetation fires and a possible reduction in carbon absorption from forests in 2023 combined with stubbornly high fossil fuel emissions from human activities, the experts added.

“These are more than just statistics,” she said. “Every part per million and every fraction of a degree temperature increase has a real impact on our lives and our planet.”

The 2023 increase of CO2 in the atmosphere was higher than that of 2022, although lower than that of the three years before that, the meteorologists said.

But as long as emissions continue, greenhouse gases will continue accumulating in the atmosphere leading to global temperature rise.

Analysis of data shows that just under half of CO2 emissions remain in the atmosphere, the organisation said.

Just over one quarter is absorbed by the ocean and just under 30% by land ecosystems – although there is considerable year-to-year variability in this because of naturally occurring phenomena like El Nino and La Nina.