The concentration of greenhouse gases is setting new records. And that's not good news.

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, responsible for global warming, has reached a record level in 2016, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Monday 30 October, warning of "a dangerous rise in temperature". The level reached is the highest in 800,000 years.

" Ahe last time the Earth experienced a comparable CO2 content was 3 to 5 million years ago: the temperature was 2 to 3°C higher and the sea level was 10 to 20 metres higher than today's level. due to melting ice sheets," the UN agency said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

According to the WMO, this " dramatic increase "of the CO2 level is due to" the conjunction of human activities and a powerful El Niño event "This is a climatic phenomenon that occurs every 4 or 5 years and results in a rise in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, causing droughts and heavy rainfall.

" From 400 parts per million (ppm) in 2015, the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere (...) reached 403.3 ppm in 2016. "and" now represents 145 % of what it was in pre-industrial times (before 1750) "The report, released in Geneva, WMO headquarters, says.

It is the " highest level in 800,000 years "the document points out.

The researchers have indeed " reliable, direct measurements The WMO's Atmospheric Environment Research Department head Oksana Tarasova told reporters that "the WMO has been able to identify concentration rates that go back 800 000 years, thanks to the study of air bubbles preserved in ice in Greenland and Antarctica". But by examining fossilized materials, WMO can go back even further in time, albeit with less precision, and date such CO2 levels to the middle Pliocene (3-5 million years ago).

" Unless greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, are rapidly reduced, we will face a dangerous rise in temperature by the end of the century, far beyond the target set in the Paris Climate Accord. "warned WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas of Finland.

" But there is hope "He stated at a press conference, recalling the international awareness of the subject, as reflected in the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015.

"Time is running out"

" CO2 persists in the atmosphere for centuries and in the ocean even longer. According to the laws of physics, the temperature will be significantly higher and climate events more extreme in the future. "said Mr. Taalas. For Erik Solheim, head of the UN Environment Agency, " time is running out ". " Numbers don't lie. Our emissions continue to be too high and the trend must be reversed (...) We already have many solutions to meet this challenge. All that is missing is the political will ", he said.

The WMO announced in March that the Arctic had experienced at least three times last winter the polar equivalent of a heat wave (...) close to thaw. In 2016, sea surface temperatures were the highest on record. In addition, mean sea level continued to rise and the extent of Arctic sea ice was well below normal for most of the year.

From negotiations on climate change begin next week in Bonn (Germany), under the aegis of the United Nations, to prepare for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

READ UP : Civil society is moving towards recognition of state responsibility for climate protection

Source: AFP

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