Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere reached a new record high in 2024, the World Meteorological Organization said Wednesday in a report that called for strengthened monitoring amid an increase in temperatures and extreme weather.
The U.N. agency, based in Switzerland, said the global average concentration of carbon dioxide rose from 420.4 ppm in 2023 to 423.9 ppm in 2024. That's an increase of 3.5 ppm or 0.83%, according to the agency's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.
When the bulletin was first published in 2004, the annual global average concentration of carbon dioxide was 377.1 ppm. Over the past two decades, the concentration has risen 12.41%.
The WMO blamed the increasing carbon dioxide emissions on human activity, a rise in wildfires and a reduction in carbon sinks -- areas where the land and ocean absorb more carbon dioxide than they release into the atmosphere.
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