Resource detail

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere globally has touched a record high again, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. Data released by the United Nations organisation showed two consecutive years of record CO2 levels — 397.7 ppm in 2014 and 400 ppm in 2015. Earlier this year, an analysis by scientists across the globe, including from NASA, showed that 2015 was the hottest year since temperature recording began in 1850s, with average temperatures sitting nearly 0.75 degree Celsius higher than the normal, breaking the earlier record set in the year 2014. “CO₂ levels had previously reached the 400 ppm barrier for certain months of the year and in certain locations but never before on a global average basis for the entire year,” the WMO said in an official statement. WMO’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin further predicted that 2016 will be the first year ever in which CO₂ remains above 400 ppm all through the year.