UN: Greenhouse Gases Reached Record High in 2005, Still Rising

The World Meteorological Organization, which regularly measures the amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said Friday that the concentration of gases in the atmosphere reached record levels last year and are expected to continue increasing even further this year and into the future.

The data gathered by the weather agency, which is part of the United Nations, showed that the global average concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) were higher last year than ever before. The concentration of CO2 rose by about 0.5% last year to reach 379.1 parts per million, according to the agency. N2O rose by about 0.19% since 2004, to total 319.2 parts per billion.

Geir Braathen, a climate specialist at the WMO, said that there is no sign N2O and CO2 are starting to level off. At the group’s Geneva headquarters, Braathen said, "It looks like it will just continue like this for the foreseeable future." Levels of methane, another greenhouse gas, remained stable since last year, said Braathen. He added that power plants, automobiles, airplanes, and ships using coal, oil, or gas, are contributing to the rise in carbon dioxide emissions.

The WMO’s statement said that there is 35.4% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the late 18th century primarily because of humans burning fossil fuels. Scientists have long said that gases released by fossil fuel-burning trap heat in the atmosphere, and as a result have warmed the Earth’s surface by an average of 1 degree in the past century. The agency said it also has concluded that "greenhouse gases are some of the major drivers behind global warming and climate change."

A second report this week by the British government warned that global warming could devastate the world economy as badly as it was damaged during the world wars and the Great Depression, if it is left unchecked. The report said that warming could melt glaciers, raise sea levels, cause crop yields to decline, and cause higher death tolls from heat stress, with widespread outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever. Developing countries would be the hardest hit.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol was an accord by 35 industrialized nations to commit to reducing emissions by an average of 5% below 1990 levels, by at least the year 2012. The United States, which is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has rejected the agreement. The Kyoto Protocol has been in effect only since last year, and the second meeting of the countries that did adhere to the agreement will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, next week.

Braathen said that it will take time for the measures enacted under the protocol to take effect on reducing greenhouse gases, and countries really need to do even more. "To really make CO2 level off, we need more drastic measures than are in the Kyoto Protocol today," he said.