After horic warm year, carbon dioxide levels in 2024 set new records: WMO | World News
After the warmest year ever recorded, global carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations in 2024 reached their highest level in hory, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Wednesday.
According to the WMO’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, CO₂ levels saw their steepest-ever increase, rising about 3.5 parts per million (ppm) between 2023 and 2024. It marks the sharpest jump since 1957, when modern CO₂ measurements began.
The report noted that the growth rate of CO₂ has tripled since the 1960s, accelerating from an average annual increase of 0.8 ppm to 2.4 ppm during 2011–2020. For comparison, WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch stations recorded an average CO₂ concentration of 377.1 ppm in 2004 and 423.9 ppm in 2024, showing the rapid accumulation over two decades.
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Human activity, rising industrial emissions, and the surge in wildfires were identified as major contributors to the record levels.
“The heat trapped CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather. Reducing emissions is, therefore, essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being,” said Ko Barrett, Deputy Secretary-General of the WMO.
The bulletin also reported significant increases in other greenhouse gases — nitrous oxide, now at 338 parts per billion (up 25 per cent), and methane, at 1,942 parts per billion (up 166 per cent) — both key drivers of global warming.
The WMO said the 2024 El Niño event further worsened the situation. The phenomenon, which brings warmer-than-usual Pacific Ocean temperatures, tends to reduce the efficiency of land carbon sinks due to drier vegetation and forest fires. Exceptional droughts and wildfires in regions like the Amazon and southern Africa in 2024 intensified CO₂ buildup, the report said.Story continues below this ad
“There is concern that terrestrial and ocean CO2 sinks are becoming less effective, which will increase the amount of CO2 that stays trapped in the atmosphere, there accelerating global warming,” warned Oksana Tarasova, Senior Scientific Officer at the WMO.
