Carbon dioxide levels growing at record rate, says UN agency

Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere increased at record-breaking speed last year, the UN weather agency has warned.

The Montparnasse Tower in Paris. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere reached a record level in 2016 according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Picture: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images

The World Meteorological Organisation said rapid cuts to CO2 and other greenhouse gases are needed to avoid “dangerous temperature increases” by 2100 that would far surpass targets set in the Paris climate accord.

WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said: “We are actually moving in the wrong direction.”

The latest WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin said a strong El Nino and human activity contributed to an increase of CO2 concentrations to 403.3 parts per million last year, up from 400 in 2015.

The WMO said the report breaks ground by showing the “global picture” on carbon levels. It hopes that will contribute to debate at a major climate conference in Bonn, Germany, starting next week.