Greenhouse gas levels have reached new record highs, prompting experts to warn that without rapid cuts climate change will have increasingly destructive and irreversible impacts.
Average concentrations of carbon dioxide hit new highs of 405.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, up from 403.3 ppm in 2016 and 400.1 ppm in 2015, levels not seen for millions of years.
Levels of other key聽greenhouse聽gases methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere also rose, says the UN鈥檚 World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
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There is no sign of a reversal in the trend in increasing聽greenhouse聽gas levels, which is driving climate change, sea level rises and more extreme weather and making oceans more acidic, the UN experts warned.
In its annual bulletin on聽greenhouse聽gas levels, the WMO also warned of a resurgence in a potent聽greenhouse聽gas and ozone-depleting substance known as CFC-11, which has been linked to illegal refrigerator factories in China.
鈥淭he science is clear. Without rapid cuts in carbon dioxide and other聽greenhouse聽gases, climate change will have increasingly destructive and irreversible impacts on life on Earth,鈥� said聽WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.
鈥淭he last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of carbon dioxide was 3-5 million years ago, when the temperature was 2-3掳C warmer and sea level was 10-20 metres higher than now,鈥� said Taalas.
The latest findings come after a report from the UN鈥檚 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found net emissions of carbon dioxide must reach zero by around 2050 to keep temperature rises to 1.5掳C above pre-industrial levels and reduce the risks of climate change.
The new IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5掳C shows that deep and rapid reductions of emissions of carbon dioxide and other聽greenhouse聽gases will be needed in all sectors of society and the economy,鈥� said聽IPCC chairman Hoesung Lee.
鈥淭he WMO聽greenhouse聽gas bulletin, showing a continuing rising trend in concentrations of聽greenhouse聽gases, underlines just how urgent these emissions reductions are,鈥� said Lee.
