NEW DELHI, Mar 19: Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached 420 parts per million in 2023, the highest in the last 8,00,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of the Climate report published on Wednesday.
The report said long-term global warming is currently estimated to be between 1.34 and 1.41 degrees Celsius compared to the 1850-1900 baseline.
It said that tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and other disasters in 2024 led to the highest number of new displacements recorded in the past 16 years. These events also worsened food crises and caused massive economic losses.
Carbon dioxide levels in 2023 (the latest year with complete global data) were 420.0 ± 0.1 parts per million (ppm), 2.3 ppm higher than in 2022 and 151 per cent of the pre-industrial level (1750). The WMO said 420 ppm corresponds to 3,276 gigatonnes (or 3.276 trillion tonnes) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The report said the past 10 years (2015-2024) were the warmest on record, with each of the last eight years setting new highs for ocean heat content.
Around 90 per cent of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases is absorbed by the ocean, warming it and affecting marine life, weather patterns and sea levels.
In 2024, global mean sea level was the highest since satellite records began in 1993.
The rate of sea level rise from 2015-2024 was double that of 1993-2002, increasing from 2.1 mm per year to 4.7 mm per year, the UN weather and climate agency said.
It said that the period 2022-2024 recorded the most negative three-year glacier mass balance. Seven of the ten worst years for glacier loss since 1950 have occurred since 2016.
“Our planet is issuing more distress signals — but this report shows that limiting long-term global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is still possible. Leaders must step up to make it happen — seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies — with new national climate plans due this year,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Earlier this year, the WMO confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record and the first with a global average temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“While a single year above 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and to the planet,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
The record global temperatures seen in 2023 and broken again in 2024 were mainly due to rising greenhouse gas emissions and the 2023-24 El Nino event.
El Nino, a periodic warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, occurs every two to seven years and usually lasts nine to 12 months.
It is linked to increased rainfall in the Horn of Africa and the southern US, while causing unusually dry and warm conditions in Southeast Asia, Australia and southern Africa.
Several other factors may have contributed to the unexpectedly high temperature increases, including changes in the solar cycle, a massive volcanic eruption, and a decrease in cooling aerosols, the report said. (PTI)
The post Atmospheric CO2 levels reach 8,00,000 year-high in 2023: World Meteorological Organization report appeared first on Daily Excelsior.