Atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions hit record highs last year

Greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere hit a record high in 2021, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization.

The WMO’s latest annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin found that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, the three main greenhouse gases responsible for trapping heat in the atmosphere and driving global warming, reached new highs last year.

It is “no mystery about what is behind the rise in carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide”, said New Scientist.

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The increase in carbon dioxide is “mainly from the continued burning of fossil fuels and cement production” and high levels of nitrous oxide are “primarily from nitrogen fertiliser, burning fossil fuels and several industrial processes”.

Meanwhile, said The Guardian, “most of Europe’s methane emissions come from agriculture – particularly livestock”.

“Because the most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, lasts in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, its concentrations are expected to continue to grow rather than diminish for a very long time,” said The Hill.

NBC News said the WMO’s report “adds urgency” to the UN Climate Change Conference, known as Cop27, which will be held in Egypt next month.

Cop27 is on track to be one of the largest in the summit’s history, with 35,000 people registered to attend the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Meanwhile, a separate report released by the UN warned that the world is “nowhere near” hitting its targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The planet is on track to see temperatures rise to 2.5C (4.5F) above pre-industrial averages by the end of the century.

The report concluded that “while emissions are no longer increasing after 2030, they are still not demonstrating the rapid downward trend science says is necessary this decade”.