The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland represents 171 member states and territories. It therefore probably speaks with more authority on climate matters than any other body. Moreover its top strategic objective is ‘disaster risk reduction’. On November 22, it announced sobering news in its 2107 annual greenhouse gas bulletin.
No Sign of Reversal, Warns the World Meteorological Organization
A spokesperson told the BBC concentrations of greenhouse gas driving global warming reached a new high in 2017. Carbon dioxide levels reached 405 parts per million in 2017, they say. This is a level we have not seen in three to five million years.
These ‘concentrations’ are what remain after the oceans, land, and trees have done their best to absorb emissions. Alarmingly, they have increased 41% since 1990. These concentrations directly affect global warming. Hence trouble looms if we cannot stop this soon. There is now 46% more concentration than when the industrial revolution started, the World Meteorological Organization counsels.
A Dire Warning of What Happened Three to Five Million Years Ago
“The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was three to five million years ago. The temperature was 2 to 3 C warmer, and the sea level was 10 to 20 meters higher than now.”
The World Meteorological Organization believes the 2015 and 2016 El Niño droughts reduced forests’ and vegetation’s ability to absorb CO2.
Researchers have also noted a slowdown in reductions of CFC-11 trichlorofluoromethane common in polyurethane foam insulation.
“It’s possible that the new emissions are the tip of the iceberg.” This is according to Dr Matt Rigby, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Bristol. UK.
“If the signals we’ve seen are due to CFC-11 released during the manufacture of products such as foams. Then there could be much more that has been locked up in these new materials. This will ultimately be released to the atmosphere over the coming decades,” he says, adding more pressure on global warming.
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