Carbon Dioxide Concentrations Grow to Record High in 2013 with Greenhouse Gases

It turns out that carbon dioxide levels are higher than ever. Scientists have announced that the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013, propelled by a surge in carbon dioxide.

The new findings come after observations from WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network. In fact, researchers found that CO2 levels increased more between 2012 and 2013 than during any other year since 1984. In 2013, concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 142 percent of the pre-industrial era; concentration of methane was at 253 percent and concentration of nitrous oxide was at 121 percent.

That said, the WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports on atmospheric concentrations and not emissions of greenhouse gases. Emissions represent what goes into the atmosphere while concentrations represent what remains in the atmosphere after a complex system of interactions; this means that these gases are present in our atmosphere.

"We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels," said Michel Jarraud, WMO Secretary-General, in a news release. "The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that, far from falling, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years. We must reverse this trend by cutting emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases across the board. We're running out of time."

Carbon dioxide actually accounted for 80 percent of the 34 percent increase in radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases from 1990 to 2013. And on the global scale the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 396 parts per million in 2013; that's a 2.9 parts per million increase from 2012 to 2013, which is the largest increase for the period 1984 to 2013.

"Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for many hundreds of years and in the ocean for even longer," said Jarraud. "Past, present and future CO2 emissions will have a cumulative impact on both global warming and ocean acidification. The laws of physics are non-negotiable."

The findings reveal that gas concentrations are a rising problem in our atmosphere. They can cause major issues with health and can also spur warming, which could leave to drastic ecological impacts in the future.

You can see the new report with the gas concentrations here.