Record rise in level of greenhouse gas
"The laws of physics mean that we face a much hotter, more extreme climate in the future."
Petteri Taalas, World Meteorological Organisation secretary-general
SWITZERLAND: Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased at the fastest rate in at least 30 years despite hope emissions could be levelling off, scientists have said.
CO2 in 2016 rose from 400 parts per million to 403.3ppm, significantly more than the next largest recorded rise of 2.7ppm in 1997, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
That means that the concentration of the greenhouse gas in our atmosphere is 45 per cent higher than pre-industrial levels, and is also higher than it has been for 800,000 years - longer than Homo sapiens has existed. Scientists warned that the last time CO2 levels were this high for an extended period the temperature was 2-3C warmer and sea levels were 10-20m higher thanks to the melting of ice caps.
Humans are not wholly to blame for the magnitude of the increase. Scientists said that although there was evidence annual emissions have stopped rising, this year’s CO2 rise was exacerbated by the El Nino climate system.
El Nino, a periodic ocean circulation in the Pacific, can cause droughts, leading to less carbon being taken out of the atmosphere by plants. This means that the figures for 2017, which is not an El Nino year, are expected to be lower.
Petteri Taalas, secretarygeneral of the WMO, said that this should nevertheless be a warning because even if humanity stopped pumping out CO2, existing emissions meant that the global temperature was guaranteed to rise. ‘‘The laws of physics mean that we face a much hotter, more extreme climate in the future,’’ he said.
‘‘Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement. Future generations will inherit a much more inhospitable planet.’’
Dave Reay, professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburgh, also said that there was extra cause for concern in the figures. One interpretation is that the planet’s natural methods for absorbing carbon might be being undermined. ‘‘We know that, as climate change intensifies, the ability of the land and oceans to mop up our carbon emissions will weaken,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s still time to steer these emissions down and so keep some control, but if we wait too long humankind will become a passenger on a one-way street to dangerous climate change.’’
A study by the Royal College of Physicians, published in The Lancet, found that people were already suffering because of higher temperatures, with an increase in weather-related disasters and mosquito-borne disease. It found that millions of Britons were breathing in air considered unsafe by the World Health Organisation.