Global carbon emissions rose by record amount in 2024, WMO says

Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities and wildfires rose by an unprecedented amount last year, while the land and oceans ability to absorb c...

Carbon-dioxide emissions from human activities and wildfires rose by an unprecedented amount last year, while the land and oceans’ ability to absorb carbon diminished, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The global average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere surged by 3.5 parts per million from 2023 and 2024, the United Nations agency said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin on Wednesday. That represents the largest yearly increase since modern measurements started in 1957 and is above the average increase of 2.4ppm in the decade between 2011 and 2020.

“The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather,” WMO deputy secretary-general Ko Barrett said in a statement.

“Reducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being.”

The greenhouse gases accumulated in the atmosphere are warming the planet, unleashing extreme weather events that have caused thousands of deaths and billions in economic losses annually. Last year, global temperatures rose above 1.5C on an annual basis for the first time ever, breaching a threshold set by global leaders when they signed the Paris Agreement a decade ago.