Geneva-Sana
The United Nations World Meteorological Organization warned today that concentrations of greenhouse gases reached a record level last year as the world moved far from achieving its goals to limit rising temperatures.
According to a report by the organization, extracts of which were published by Reuters, the levels of greenhouse gases amounted to 413.2 parts per million in 2020, higher than the average rate over the past ten years, despite the temporary decrease in emissions during the closures due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
The current rate of increase in these gases will lead to a rise in temperatures well beyond the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement of 1.5 degrees Celsius, said Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the Organization, calling for a review of industrial, energy and transport systems and every way of human life and for a "massive increase". In the commitments at the COP26 conference, which begins on the 31st of October.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries will meet in Glasgow, Scotland, with the aim of stepping up action to tackle global warming under the Paris Agreement.
The annual report of the Geneva-based organization measures the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere, which are gases that lead to global warming and cause extreme weather events such as heat waves and torrential rain.
The report confirmed, as expected, that the economic slowdown that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic did not have any significant impact on the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and their growth rates, noting that early readings showed that carbon dioxide levels, the main cause of global warming, continue to rise during 2021.
Climate scientists say that even if emissions are now drastically reduced, the global warming trend will remain because past emissions of carbon dioxide remain in the atmosphere for centuries.
The World Meteorological Organization report raised concerns about the ability of oceans and land to absorb nearly half of carbon dioxide emissions, saying that ocean uptake could be reduced due to rising sea surface temperatures and other factors.
These drains act as a buffer against the possibility of further significant temperature rises.
