Global CO2 Levels Surge to Record High in 2024, WMO Warns
Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere surged by 3.5 parts per million between 2023 and 2024, marking the largest annual increase since measurements began in 1957.
The World Meteorological Organization released the data in its latest Greenhouse Gas Bulletin ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.
The global average CO2 level reached 423.9 ppm in 2024, up from 377.1 ppm in 2004. The WMO attributed the sharp rise to continued emissions from human activity, increased wildfire output and a reduced ability of forests and oceans to absorb carbon.
2024 was also the warmest on record, with a strong El Niño contributing to drought and fires in the Amazon and southern Africa.
Methane and nitrous oxide levels also reached new highs. Methane rose to 1942 parts per billion, a 166 percent increase over pre-industrial levels. Nitrous oxide reached 338.0 parts per billion, up 25 percent from pre-industrial levels.
The WMO warned that carbon sinks are becoming less effective, which could lead to more CO2 remaining in the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.
About half of annual CO2 emissions stay in the atmosphere, while the rest is absorbed by land and ocean systems. As temperatures rise, oceans absorb less CO2 and land sinks are weakened by drought and fire.
Globally averaged CO2 concentration (a) and its growth rate (b) from 1984 to 2024. Increases in successive annual means are shown as the shaded columns in (b). The red line in (a) is the monthly mean with the seasonal variation removed; the blue dots and blue line in (a) depict the monthly averages. Observations from 179 stations were used for this analysis
