Unclean air
Key greenhouse gase emissions rose faster in 2020 than the average for the previous decade. A com parison of the key trends to pre-industrial levels:
A report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the increase in CO2 from 2019 to 2020 was slightly lower than that observed from 2018 to 2019 but higher than the average annual growth rate over the past decade.
About:
- This is despite the approximately 5.6% drop in fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 2020 due to restrictions related to the pandemic. The Bulletin, as the WMO report is called, shows that the pandemic disruption in 2020 didn't significantly dent overall greenhouse gas emissions.
- For methane, the increase from 2019 to 2020 was higher than that observed from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average annual growth rate over the past decade.
- For nitrous oxides also, the increase was higher and also than the average annual growth rate over the past 10 years.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) shows that from 1990 to 2020, radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGS) increased by 47%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of this increase.
- Concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most significant greenhouse gas, reached 413.2 parts per million in 2020 and is 149% of the pre-industrial level. Methane (CH4) is 262% and nitrous oxide (N20) is 123% of the levels in 1,750 when human activities started disrupting earth's natural equilibrium.
- source: The Hindu
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