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Concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere rose at a record-breaking speed in 2016 to reach the highest level in 800,000 years, a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. The development, it said, has the potential to initiate unprecedented changes in climate systems, causing severe ecological and economic disruptions. The WMO’s ‘Greenhouse Gas Bulletin’, released on 31 October 2017, said the abrupt changes in the atmosphere witnessed in the past 70 years are without precedent. As per the report, globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2016 up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño event. Concentrations of CO2 are now 145% of pre-industrial (before 1750) levels.