The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record level last year, despite a temporary decline in global emissions during the corona pandemic. Moreover, international efforts to slow down global warming are seriously lacking. With this warning, the UN meteorological agency is in a new report, less than a week before the start of the climate change summit in Glasgow.
The concentration increased more in 2020 than the annual average in the years 2000 to 2010. If that increase continues at the current pace, it means that the average temperature increase on earth will be well above the targets of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The high concentration of greenhouse gases is the main cause of the temperature increase.
The Paris agreement stipulates that this increase may not exceed 2 and preferably 1.5 degrees. If nothing happens, the average increase by the end of the century will be 2.7 degrees, the weather agency expects.
Worrying New Development
“We are way behind,” said Secretary-General Taalas of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). “We need to overhaul all our industrial, energy and transport systems and reshape our entire way of life.”
According to him, much more ambitious climate goals need to be set. The emission of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, is mainly caused by the use of fossil fuels such as oil and gas and, for example, cement production.
The chairman of the climate summit in Glasgow, Alok Sharma, notes that progress has been made since the Paris agreement: then it still seemed that the global temperature would rise by an average of 4 degrees.
The WMO also points to a worrying new development: part of the tropical rainforest in the southwest of the Amazon region no longer absorbs carbon dioxide, as was the case until recently, but has instead become a source of emissions. This is due to deforestation and the decreased humidity there, which means that it rains much less than before.
Correspondent Rolien Créton traveled to Greenland, where the ice sheet is melting faster than ever measured due to climate change:
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