The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high last year, and atmospheric temperatures have climbed much faster than scientists expected, according to new research published on Tuesday by the U.N.’s agency on meteorology.
The new data, released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), showed that carbon dioxide levels increased more from 2012 to 2013 than during any other year since 1984. Their research indicated that this could be due to a decline in the Earth’s capacity to absorb the heat-trapping gas in addition to increasing emissions that have built up in the atmosphere.
The new findings said the rise in CO2 levels is outpacing fossil fuel use, indicating that the planet’s natural ability to soak up the gas may be declining, the report said.
“It may be due to the reduced uptake of CO2 by the biosphere,” WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud told a news conference. “If that is confirmed, it is of significant concern.” He said more research would need to be done to confirm that theory.
Absolute levels of greenhouse gases are at record highs, something the WMO said would have increasingly negative effects across the globe.
“We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels,” Jarraud said.
The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is the result of a complex interplay of chemical processes and absorption of CO2 by the oceans and plant life. In another sign of the increasingly clear effects of climate change, the oceans are growing acidic at a rate faster than ever before, according to the report.
Note: The oscillation within each year reflects seasonal variation. CO2 levels decrease in the spring when plants absorb CO2 and increase in the fall when they release it.
In 2013 the concentration of all major greenhouse gases shattered previous records; CO2 in the atmosphere was more than 1.5 times its preindustrial level, and methane, another heat-trapping gas, was at more than twice its earlier level.
The report urged scientists to repeat their call for urgent attention to climate change ahead of a climate summit at the U.N. General Assembly in New York this month.
“We have the knowledge and we have the tools for action to try to keep temperature increases within two degrees Celsius (3.6 F) to give our planet a chance and to give our children and grandchildren a future. Pleading ignorance can no longer be an excuse for not acting,” Jarraud said.
Even if human-made carbon emissions fall by 80 percent by 2050, the total warming effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will have barely receded by 2100. The longer fossil fuel use grows, the harder it will be to reverse the warming effect, the WMO said.
“Past, present and future CO2 emissions will have a cumulative impact on both global warming and ocean acidification. The laws of physics are non-negotiable,” Jarraud said. “We are running out of time.”
Al Jazeera and Reuters
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