The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) entering Earth’s atmosphere increased by a record amount in 2024, further locking global warmingaccording to a new report.
CO2 levels increased by 3.5 parts per million (ppm) from 2023 to 2024, marking the largest one-year increase since modern records began in 1957. Researchers attributed the record increase to humanity’s continued use of fossil fuels, an increase in wildfires, and less absorption of Earth’s carbon sinks (such as oceans and forests) which naturally absorb CO.2 out of the atmosphere.
“The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases fuel our climate and lead to more extreme weather,” Ko BarrettDeputy Secretary-General of WMO, said in a statement. “Reducing emissions is therefore essential not only for our climate, but also for our economic security and the well-being of our communities.”
CO2 and others greenhouse gas capture heat by absorbing radiation. As greenhouse gas concentrations increase, global average temperatures also increase. THE effects of global warming are changing weather conditions, raise sea levelscompromising our ability to grow food and encounter a variety of other Dear impacts that ultimately threaten the lives of billions of people.
Climatologists consider CO2 to be the greenhouse gas with the greatest impact on the climate. It is responsible for about 80% of the total influence of greenhouse gases on our atmosphere since 1990, according to the study. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Atmospheric CO2 levels have been rising steadily for decades. The 3.5 ppm increase in 2024 is up from the 2.4 ppm increase recorded in 2023 and higher than the average annual growth rate of 2.57 ppm established over the past decade. Total atmospheric CO2 the concentration was approximately 423.9 ppm in 2024, up 152% from the pre-industrial level – the concentration estimated before 1750.
Methane concentrations (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), the second and third most important greenhouse gases, also increased by record amounts in 2024, up 166% and 25% from their respective pre-industrial levels, according to the report.
The biggest emitters
China, the United States and India were the three largest emitting countries in 2024, according to the Emissions Database for Global Atmosphere Research. China was responsible for about 29.2% of all human greenhouse gas emissions, while the United States contributed 11.1% and India 8.2%. Additionally, China and India increased their emissions compared to 2023, while US emissions remained stable. largely unchanged.
China emits an impressive amount of CO2, but also recently set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement (for the second time), which is an international treaty aimed at limiting global warming. The President also pledged to “drill, baby, drill” as part of a strategy to develop oil and gas exploration.
Neither the United States nor China is doing enough to tackle emissions, according to Climate Action Tracker, an independent science project that monitors climate action efforts against previously agreed goals of the Paris Agreement. Climate Action Tracker currently rates China’s efforts as “very insufficient“and the efforts of the United States as”critically insufficient“, respectively the second and worst rating.
Comments on carbon sinks
Humans can directly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere by burning fewer fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, and limiting other emissions-producing activities. The planet does some of this work for us through carbon sinks, which absorb about half of total CO.2 emitted each year while the rest remains in the atmosphere.
However, these carbon sinks could now be compromised, according to the report. As the planet warms, scientists expect sinks like the ocean to absorb less CO2 because gases don’t dissolve as well in warmer waters. This process is known as a positive feedback loop, in which warming leads to more warming.
“We fear that terrestrial and oceanic CO2 wells become less efficient, which will increase the amount of CO2 which remains in the atmosphere, thus accelerating global warming,” Oksana Tarasovaa WMO senior scientific officer, said in the statement. “Sustained and strengthened greenhouse gas monitoring is essential to understanding these loops.”
