In 2024 greenhouse gas concentrations have increased by a record amount. More carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide became locked in Earth’s atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says in its latest analysis. This will lead to a more long-term temperature increase.
Read more: Carbon dioxide levels mark a new recordObservations from the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) show “that the globally averaged surface concentrations for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) reached unprecedented highs in 2024, with CO2 at 423.9±0.2 ppm, CH4 at 1942±2 ppb and N2O at 338.0±0.1 ppb.”
These values constitute, respectively, increases of 52%, 166% and 25% above pre-industrial (before 1750) levels. The record increase in CO2 from 2023 to 2024, according to WMO, was most likely due to a combination of natural variability and continued emissions of fossil fuel CO2.
Growth rates of CO2 have tripled since the 1960s, accelerating from an annual average increase of 0.8 ppm per year to 2.4 ppm per year in the decade from 2011 to 2020. From 2023 to 2024, the global average concentration of CO2 surged by 3.5 ppm, the largest increase since modern measurements started in 1957.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) shows that from 1990 to 2024, radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs) increased by 54%, with CO2 accounting for about 81% of this increase.
