4 climate crisis indicators break records in 2021

NEW RECORDS WERE SET FOR GREENHOUSE GAS CONCENTRATION, SEA LEVEL RISE, OCEAN HEAT, AND ACIDIFICATION, ACCORDING TO WMO’S REPORT

NEW DELHI: Four key climate change indicators, greenhouse gas concentration, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification set new records in 2021, in a clear sign that human activities are causing planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean, and in the atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate Report 2021 released on Wednesday .

Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations reached a high in 2020 when the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached 413.2 parts per million (ppm) globally, or 149% of the pre-industrial level. They continued to rise in 2021 and early 2022, with monthly average CO2 concentration at Mona Loa in Hawaii reaching 419.05 ppm in April 2021, and 420.23 ppm in April 2022, from 416.45 ppm in April 2020, the report said.

The global annual mean temperature in 2021 was around 1.11 degree C above the 1,850-1,900 pre-industrial average, less warm than recent years mainly due to the cooling effect of La

Niña. But, the most recent seven years (2015 to 2021) were the seven warmest years on record.

Ocean heat was also set a record last year. “The upper 2,000m depth of the ocean continued to warm in 2021 and it is expected that it will continue to warm in the future – a change which is irreversible on centennial to millennial time scales. All data sets agree that ocean warming rates show a particularly strong increase in the past two decades. The warmth is penetrating to ever deeper levels. Much of the ocean experienced at least one ‘strong’ marine heatwave at some point in 2021,” WMO said, adding that global mean sea level also reached a