GENEVA: The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday (Nov 15), warning there was “no end in sight” to the trend.
The warning comes weeks before world leaders are due to gather in Dubai for the annual UN climate conference COP28, which will see governments push for greater climate action, including a possible phase-out of fossil fuels before 2050.
In 2022, global average concentrations of carbon dioxide were a full 50 per cent above the pre-industrial era for the first time, the UN weather agency said.
“Despite decades of warnings from the scientific community, thousands of pages of reports and dozens of climate conferences, we are still heading in the wrong direction,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
Taalas said higher concentrations of greenhouse gases would be accompanied by more extreme weather events, including intense heat and rainfall, ice melt, higher sea levels, as well as ocean heat and acidification.
“About half of the planet has been facing an increase of flooding events, and one third of the planet has been facing an increase of drought events,” Taalas said. “And this negative trend will continue until 2060s.”
“We must reduce the consumption of fossil fuels as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Source: CNA
