About the report- The report is released by World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The numbers are based on monitoring by WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network.
Key findings of the report:
- The abundance of greenhouse gases(GHG’s) in the atmosphere once again reached a new record last year, with the annual rate of increase above the 2011-2020 average.
- Carbon dioxide(CO2) is the single most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, accounting for approximately 66% of the warming effect on the climate, mainly because of fossil fuel combustion and cement production.
- Concentration of CO2, reached 413.2 PPM(parts per million) in 2020 and is 149% of the pre industrial level.
- Methane (CH4) is 262% and nitrous oxide (N2O) is 123% of the levels in 1750 when human activities started disrupting Earth’s natural equilibrium.
- The economic slowdown from COVID-19 did not have any perceptible impact on the atmospheric levels of GHG’s and their growth rates, although there was a temporary decline in new emissions.
- From 1990 to 2020, radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – by long-lived GHG’s increased by 47%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of this increase.
