Global Carbon Dioxide Levels Hit a New Record in 2017, U.N. Says

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit a new record last year with emissions showing no sign of slowing down, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization said on Thursday.

The annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin dashed hopes for a slowdown in emissions of CO2 - the byproduct of burning fossil fuels that scientists say is the main cause of the greenhouse effect causing global warming.

“The science is clear.  Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gases, climate change will have increasingly destructive and irreversible impacts on life on Earth.  The window of opportunity for action is almost closed,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

The report found CO2 levels of 405.5 parts per million in 2017, up from 403.3 ppm in 2016.

The rate of increase is in line with the average growth rate over the last decade, which was the fastest rate for 55 million years, the WMO said.  Carbon dioxide levels have risen 46 percent since the pre-industrial era, around 1750.

“The most alarming thing is that ... half of the increase from pre-industrial times comes within the last 30 years,” said Oksana Tarasova, head of WMO’s atmospheric environment research.

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