2021, record year for greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
The US Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency (NOAA) reported in its annual report on Wednesday August 31 that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere averaged 414.7 parts per million (ppm) [1 to 1 million, Editor's note] – i.e. 2.3 ppm more than in 2020, a record since the start of measurements and for at least a million years.
Levels of methane - a gas that lasts only a decade but has a warming power 80 times greater than CO2 over a 20-year period - have also hit an all-time high, according to the agency's statement, which notes a "significant" acceleration in the annual increase in methane levels in recent years.
In terms of the consequences of global warming, for the tenth consecutive year, the average level of the oceans is also at a record level, 0.97 cm above the level of 1993, the year in which satellite measurements began.
The planet has gained an average of nearly 1.2°C since the pre-industrial era, already causing a multiplication of extreme weather events, from heat waves to storms, including droughts and floods.
Global warming 'shows no signs of slowing down'
And that's just the beginning.
While every tenth of a degree counts, the world is indeed heading towards a warming of +2.8°C by 2100 even if the commitments made by States under the Paris agreement are respected, according to the UN climate experts (IPCC).
"The data presented in this report is clear: we continue to see growing scientific evidence of the global impacts of warming that shows no signs of abating," commented NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad.
“With many communities hit by thousand-year-old floods, exceptional droughts and historic heat this year, it shows that the climate crisis is not a threat to come but something we must face today,” said he added.
With AFP
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