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The three main greenhouse gases in the air all hit record highs last year. These are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. The “dramatic rise” in the atmospheric concentration of methane is particularly noteworthy.
The measured increase in methane was greater than at any time in the nearly forty years of measurements. “This shows that we are heading in the wrong direction,” the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) wrote in a statement. “This is yet another ominous warning of climate change.”
It is unclear what is behind this sharp increase. The Social Support Act mentions both biological processes and “man-made processes”. An example of a biological process is the warming of swamps or rice paddies. Then the organic matter decomposes faster, which can lead to methane emissions.
What are greenhouse gases and how do they warm the earth?
- Greenhouse gases are gases that block heat radiation. This heat is then returned to the environment. Let’s also return to the earth, which gets a higher temperature as a result. We call this the greenhouse effect. As the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, the temperature increases.
The CO2 content also increased more than normal. Climate scientists are particularly worried because greenhouse gas emissions will rise until at least 2030. While the amount in 2021 was the highest in around three million years, when the earth was much warmer.
Social Support Law chief Petteri Taalas insists on the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “and prevent the global temperature from continuing to rise in the future”. Taalas: “The necessary adjustments are affordable and achievable. Time is running out.”
More ambition needed to reach the Paris agreement
According to the Social Support Law, more ambitious targets are needed to meet the agreements of the Paris Climate Accord. In it, world leaders agreed to make efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This should ensure that the Earth does not warm more than 2 degrees – and preferably no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius – compared to the pre-industrial era. On average, the temperature on Earth is now 1.1 degrees warmer than it was before industrialization.
WMO is a United Nations organization specializing in weather, climate and water. As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue, the global temperature will continue to rise, the Social Support Act points out. Even if emissions decrease immediately, the CO2 will remain in the atmosphere for years longer.
The United Nations Environment Agency (UNEP) will release a separate report on Thursday. It assesses current and estimated future greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental agency calculates how much the earth will warm up if countries keep their promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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