‘We are way off track’: New climate report shows sharp rise in greenhouse gas emissions – By April Siese (Daily Kos) / Oct 26 2021
A newly released U.N. climate change report revealed that not even pandemic lockdowns could combat rising greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, “the increase in CO2 from 2019 to 2020 was slightly lower than that observed from 2018 to 2019, but higher than the average annual growth rate over the last decade. This is despite the approximately 5.6% drop in fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 2020 due to restrictions related to the coronavirus disease pandemic.”
Additional findings showed concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide well above pre-industrial era levels. The WMO defines this period as occurring prior to 1750, when “human activity began to be a destabilizing factor.” The pre-industrial period is considered a yardstick for combatting climate change. For example, the 2015 Paris Agreement requires signees to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.”
That agreement was adopted six years ago at the U.N.’s annual climate conference by 195 parties and entered into effect Nov. 4, 2016. This year’s conference, dubbed COP26 and held in the U.K., is mere days away. The WMO is hoping the report it released Monday will reinforce the urgent need to recommit to the Paris Agreement and enact sweeping changes in an effort to reduce emissions.
