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Environmental News

UNITED NATIONS:

GREENHOUSE GASES REACHED

A RECORD LEVEL IN 2018

The World Meteorological Organization declared that the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a new record in 2018, as it jumped faster
than the average increase over the past decade to anchor increasingly devastating weather patterns.

The United Nations Agency’s Greenhouse Gases Bulletin is one of a series of studies to be published ahead of a United Nations climate change
summit in Madrid. It measures the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, not emissions.

There is no indication of a slowdown, not to mention a decrease in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, despite all the
commitments made under the Paris climate change agreement, said Pettierry Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological
Organization.

He added: “This long-term trend means that future generations will face severe and increasing impacts of climate change, including higher
temperatures, more extreme weather, water stress, sea-level rise, and disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.”

The report stated that the concentration of carbon dioxide, which results from burning fossil fuels and which is the largest contributor to
global warming, increased from 405.5 parts per million in 2017 to 407.8 parts per million in 2018, exceeding the average rate of increase
between 2005 and 2015 that reached 2.06 parts in a million, Whatever policy followed in the future, carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere
for centuries, causing to trap heat.

Taalas said: "It should be noted that the last time the Earth experienced concentrations of carbon dioxide were before three to ve million
years ago," The report stated that levels of methane, another greenhouse gas with a much stronger e ect than carbon dioxide, and nitrous
oxide also rose to new highs.

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