Why in the News?
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations reached a record 423.9 ppm in 2024, marking the highest annual increase (3.5 ppm) since global measurements began in 1957.
About WMO Report 2025:
- Publisher: Issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN specialised agency for weather, climate, and water systems.
- Document: The 2025 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin presents global atmospheric data for carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O).
- Global Record: Confirms 2024 as the warmest year ever, with average temperatures 1.55 °C above pre-industrial (1850–1900) levels.
- Context & Timing: Released ahead of COP30 (Belém, Brazil) to guide mitigation policies and national climate commitments.
- Key Warning: Notes a record surge in CO₂ and the weakening of natural carbon sinks such as oceans and forests.
Key Highlights about Greenhouse Gases:
- Carbon Dioxide (CO₂): Global mean reached 423.9 ppm in 2024, up 3.5 ppm from 2023, the largest annual rise since 1957. Concentrations are 152 % above pre-industrial (278.3 ppm); land and ocean sinks are declining in efficiency.
- Methane (CH₄): Climbed to 1,942 ppb, 166 % above pre-industrial levels; ~60 % of emissions stem from livestock, fossil fuels, and rice cultivation.
- Nitrous Oxide (N₂O): Reached 338 ppb, 25 % higher than pre-industrial; emitted mainly from fertiliser use, biomass burning, and industry; the third major long-lived GHG.
- Drivers of Increase: Human emissions, El Niño-linked droughts and wildfires, and reduced oceanic absorption, especially from the Amazon and southern Africa in 2024.
Implications and Risks:
- Warming Acceleration: CO₂ causes ~66 % of total warming and 79 % over the last decade; persistent buildup locks in long-term temperature rise.
- Weakening Carbon Sinks: Warmer seas and drought-stricken lands absorb less CO₂, reinforcing a feedback loop of accumulation.
- Extreme Events: Intensified heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires signal proximity to irreversible tipping points like ice-sheet loss and coral die-off.
| [UPSC 2012] The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the air is slowly raising the temperature of the atmosphere, because it absorbs
Options: (a) the water vapour of the air and retains its heat. (b) the UV part of the solar radiation. (c) all the solar radiations. (d) the infrared part of the solar radiation. * |
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