The levels of the crucial heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached historic highs last year, growing at near-record fast paces, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.…Continue readingHeat-trapping carbon dioxide and methane levels in the air last year spiked to record highs again
Tag: ghgs
Six leading international datasets used for monitoring global temperatures and consolidated by WMO show that the annual average global temperature was 1.45 ± 0.12 °C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900)…Continue readingWMO confirms that 2023 smashes global temperature record
Geologists on an international subcommission recently voted down a proposal to formally recognize that we have entered the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch representing the time when massive, unrelenting…Continue readingViewpoint: What the Anthropocene’s critics overlook, and why it really should be a new geological epoch
Planet-heating methane released by the fossil fuel industry rose to near record highs in 2023 despite technology available to curb this pollution at virtually no cost, the International Energy…Continue readingMethane emissions from energy sector rose in 2023: IEA
The world is off track to meet its climate goals and the public is to blame, Darren Woods, chief executive of oil giant ExxonMobil, has claimed. As the world’s…Continue readingFury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate failures
Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose to a record level in 2023. CO2 emissions from energy rose by 1.1% in 2023, increasing by 410 million tonnes to a record…Continue readingEnergy-related carbon dioxide emissions hit record levels in 2023: IEA
The world generated 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal waste last year and the pile of trash is set to grow another two-thirds by 2050, the UN said Wednesday, warning…Continue readingWorld must act to stem surge of polluting trash, UN warns
Through the process of photosynthesis, trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere to produce new growth. Yet, under stressful conditions, trees release CO2 back to the atmosphere, a process called…Continue readingTrees struggle to ‘breathe’ as climate warms
Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level and ocean heat content reached record highs in 2022, according to the 33rd annual State of the Climate report. “People are causing the…Continue readingInternational report confirms record-high greenhouse gases, global sea levels in 2022
The pace at which the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has jumped three-fold in five decades. Annual growth in global mean carbon dioxide averaged across the last decade…Continue readingPace of increase in CO₂ concentration has increased three-fold
The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by the 2030s, even if we do a good job of reducing emissions between now and then. That’s the worrying conclusion…Continue readingArctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by 2030s, with global, damaging and dangerous consequences
United Nations climate chief says while the rapid end of burning coal, oil, and natural gas is urgently needed, the topic may not even reach crucial COP28 negotiations.Continue readingWill fossil fuel phase-out make it onto the UN’s climate agenda?
It is now too late to save summer Arctic sea ice. The study also shows that if emissions decline slowly or continue to rise, the first ice-free summer could…Continue readingToo late now to save Arctic summer ice, climate scientists find
“CO2 now is higher than any time in the last 4 to 4.5 million years when the atmosphere was about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3.9 degrees Celsius) warmer and sea…Continue readingAmount of warming triggering carbon dioxide in air hits new peak, growing at near-record fast rate
“The human fingerprints in temperature changes in the mid to upper stratosphere due to CO2 increases are truly exceptional because they are so large and so different from temperature…Continue readingAtmospheric research provides clear evidence of human-caused climate change signal associated with CO₂ increases
Carbon dioxide levels rose by more than two parts per million (ppm) for the 11th consecutive year: the highest sustained rate of CO₂ increases since monitoring began 65 years ago.…Continue readingGreenhouse gas emissions rose at ‘alarming’ rate last year, US data shows
Carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory peaked for 2022 at 421 parts per million in May, pushing the atmosphere further into territory not seen for…Continue readingCarbon dioxide peak for 2022 more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels
Four key climate change indicators—greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification—set new records in 2021. “It is just a matter of time before we see…Continue readingFour climate change records broken in 2021: WMO State of the Climate Report
A new record for the highest daily level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been set this week, ringing alarm bells about the pace of global warming. The…Continue readingRecord carbon dioxide levels alarm scientists
Amazon rainforest becomes a savanna The 2.5 million square mile rainforest is so vast it creates its own rainfall and is home to 10% of the world’s species. But…Continue readingThe world is ‘perilously close’ to irreversible climate change
For the second year in a row, NOAA scientists observed a record annual increase in atmospheric levels of methane, a powerful, heat-trapping greenhouse gas that’s the second biggest contributor…Continue readingIncrease in atmospheric methane set another record during 2021. Carbon dioxide levels also record a big jump
Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose by 6% in 2021 to 36.3 billion tons, their highest ever level, as the world economy rebounded strongly from the COVID-19 crisis and…Continue readingGlobal carbon dioxide emissions rebounded to their highest level in history in 2021
After small drop in 2020, global electricity demand grew by 6% in 2021. It was the largest ever annual increase in absolute terms (over 1,500 TWh). Around half took place…Continue readingIEA: Electricity CO₂ emissions reach record high and set to remain constant to 2024
In addition to drastically cutting global fossil fuel emissions, society needs to develop and use technologies to remove the CO2 already in the atmosphere. Geologist Peter B. Kelemen is…Continue readingCarbon dioxide removal technologies take a giant step forward
The warming of the planet is taking a deadly toll on seabirds that are suffering population declines from starvation, inability to reproduce, heat waves and extreme weather. One estimate…Continue readingHuman greenhouse gas emissions kill seabirds
Climate change and warming waters are pushing black-browed albatross break-up rates higher. Typically after choosing a partner, only 1-3% would separate in search of greener romantic pastures. But in…Continue readingHuman emissions causing increasing rates of albatross break-ups
The World Meteorological Organization reported Monday that greenhouse gas concentrations hit a new record high last year and increased at a faster rate than the annual average for the…Continue readingUN: Greenhouse gas concentrations hit a new record in 2020
Maps of fossil-fueled power plants’ CO2 emissions. Taller spikes indicate that plants emit CO2 at higher levels. Colors signify plants’ primary fuels (blue = coal, yellow = natural gas,…Continue readingReducing CO₂ emissions by targeting the world’s hyper-polluting power plants
The wildfires in the American West are burning vast expanses of specially protected forests — those that are part of carbon-offset projects meant to counterbalance the carbon dioxide pollution…Continue readingWildfires are ravaging forests set aside to soak up greenhouse gases
Global greenhouse gas emissions must peak in the next four years, coal and gas-fired power plants must close in the next decade and lifestyle and behavioural changes will be…Continue readingGreenhouse gas emissions must peak within 4 years, says leaked UN report
This backing for coal, oil and gas is “reckless” in the face of the escalating climate emergency, according to the report’s authors, and urgent action is needed to phase out…Continue reading‘Reckless’: G20 states subsidised fossil fuels by $3tn since 2015, says report
“Carbon dioxide going up in a few decades like that is extremely unusual”. “For example, when the Earth climbed out of the last ice age, carbon dioxide increased by…Continue readingCarbon dioxide levels hit 50% higher than preindustrial time