According to a report published by UN’s World Meteorological Organization, greenhouse gas concentrations reached a new high last year and spiked faster than average compared to last decade instead of dropping during pandemic-related lockdowns.
Its annual report on high-temperature trapping in the atmosphere points to upsetting new developments. Due to deforestation and decreasing moisture in the region, portions of the Amazon forest that was recognized as the carbon sink that captures CO2 from the air has been converted into a source of CO2.
According to report, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide concentrations were all above pre-industrial levels before 1750, when human activities started disturbing Earth's natural equilibrium.
The research was published only days before a U.N. climate change meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. Many environmental activists, lawmakers, and scientists believe the COP26 conference, which runs from October 31 to November 12, represents an important, if not critical, a chance for tangible pledges to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement's goals.
World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General, Petteri Taalas said that the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin comprises a scientific message for climate change negotiators at COP26. Owing to the current rate of increase, the world may witness an increase in temperature far over the Paris agreement goal of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century.
Taalas noted that the most striking information provided in the report is that the Amazonian region, which used to be a carbon sink, has become the source of carbon dioxide. And this is just because of deforestation and the changes in the local climate globally.
Furthermore, the report provides information based on a network that monitors the greenhouse gases levels that persists in the atmosphere after oceans and the biosphere absorb some amounts.
Source Credit - https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/climate-change-greenhouse-emissions-un-wmo-cop-26-summit-1869162-2021-10-25