GREENHOUSE GASES CONTINUE TO RISE
The reduction in economic activity during lockdown did not reduce the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. A global review carried out by the American Meteorological Society called ‘State of the Climate in 2020’, has determined that the pandemic slowed economic activity dramatically but had little to no effect on the emissions of greenhouse gasses. In fact, there has been a significant rise in all major greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
The American Meteorological Society claims that 2020 was Europe’s hottest year on record measuring 1.9°C higher than the average for years between 1981-2010, they also state that seven of the warmest years have all occurred since 2014. This is directly linked to the rise in the annual average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration the was recorded at 412.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2020. That was 2.5 ppm greater than 2019 amounts and was the highest in the modern 62-year measurement record and in ice core records dating back as far as 800,000 years.
The report follows the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new report that claimed that many changes to the climate are now irreversible for the next millennia due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions.
What can be done to make an impactful change?
- Reaching net-zero carbon emissions is essential to keeping global warming to a specific level.
- As well as carbon emissions, methane emissions must have a heavy decrease.
- The removal of human carbon emissions could lead to a reversal of ocean acidification and the stabilisation of temperatures in the coming decades.
- Net-zero could limit the frequency of extreme sea-level events, flooding, and extremely high temperatures in parts of the planet.