The WMO report reveals that the Earth accumulates a historic amount of gases concentrated in its atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and methane are two of the most present elements and would have consequences on climate change. The report will be discussed at COP24 that will begin in the coming days.

By José Diaz

Servindi, November 30th, 2018.- Shortly after the start of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) in Poland, a new negative news appears in the environmental panorama. This is the information disseminated by the last bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which states that the propagation of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere has broken records in the current geological era.

According to the WMO report, the average CO2 concentration went from 400.1 parts per million (ppm) in 2015 to 403.3 ppm in 2016 and to 405.5 ppm last year. The last time the Earth has accumulated that amount of particles in the atmosphere was approximately 3 or 5 million years ago. The result of that phenomenon was an increase in temperature of up to 3 ° Celsius and sea levels of up to 20 meters.

"There is no indication of investment in this trend, which is triggering long-term climate change, rising sea levels, acidification of the oceans and a greater number of extreme weather events," the document explains.

All the particles examined by WMO trap the heat in the atmosphere and generate therefore the phenomenon of global warming and its consequent climate change. In addition to carbon dioxide (CO2), the other particles with high concentrations are methane and nitrous oxide, two elements that directly attack the ozone layer.

Urgent decisions

The information provided by the global scientific sector in recent years is clear. Since 1990 the strength of solar radiation has increased by 41%, a direct consequence of the increase in greenhouse gases. The most responsible element of this phenomenon is CO2, the same particle that this year has broken its emissions record.

"The science is clear: if we do not quickly reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, climate change will have increasingly destructive and irreversible effects on life on Earth. Our opportunities for action are about to run out," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said with concern.

This WMO report joins the one already disseminated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on the disparity of gas emissions and public policies on this case. Both documents seek to establish the most solid scientific principle to set the 1.5 ° Celsius global warming goal, something that will be debated (and perhaps defined) in the coming days during the COP24 in Katowice (Poland).

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U.S.: #DonaldTrump does not believe in the report on #ClimateChange of his own officials → https://t.co/ukhmGpgrLd pic.twitter.com/6Ywo8j6Rxy

— Servindi (@Servindi) 28 de noviembre de 2018