World Weather Organization warns: air pollution reaches record levels

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The World Weather Organization (WMO) records new record values. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the air will also increase in 2022. This concerns carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).

According to the WMO, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere last year was 417.9 ppm (parts of CO2 per million particles). This is an increase of 2.2 ppm compared to the previous year.

The last time CO2 concentrations were as high as they are now was three to five million years ago, the UN weather agency writes. The average temperature was two to three degrees higher and the sea level ten to twenty meters higher.

According to the WMO, the increase in CO2 leveled off somewhat last year compared to 2021 and the ten-year average. But that is probably due to natural fluctuations.

“We are going in the wrong direction”

New emissions from man-made industrial activities continued to rise. And because CO2 has a long lifespan, the temperature rise that has already occurred will continue for decades – even if emissions are quickly reduced to zero.

“Despite decades of warnings from the scientific community, despite thousands of pages of reports and dozens of climate conferences, we are still moving in the wrong direction,” WMO chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

“Current levels of greenhouse gases put us on a path that will result in temperature increases well above the Paris Climate Agreement target by the end of the century,” Taalas continued.

“That means more extreme weather, such as intense heat, rainfall and melting ice.” In the oceans, this leads to a rise in water levels, higher temperatures and greater acidification. It is therefore urgent to reduce fossil fuel consumption. (SDA)

Source:Blick