Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases once again reached new highs in 2018, a media report said on Monday.
Though the increase in CO2 was just above the average rise in the last decade, the levels of other warming gases like methane and nitrous oxide had surged by above average amounts, a BBC report quoted the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as saying.
It said that since 1990, there was an increase of 43 per cent in the warming effect on the climate of longlived greenhouse gases.
The WMO report looks at the concentrations of warming gases in the atmosphere rather than just emissions.
Emissions refer to the amount of gases that go up into the atmosphere due to the use of fossil fuels, such as burning coal for electricity and from deforestation whereas concentrations are what's left in the air after a complex series of interactions between the atmosphere, oceans, forests and land.
About 25 per cent of all carbon emissions are absorbed by the seas, and a similar amount by land and trees.
With the use of data from monitoring stations in the Arctic and across the world, researchers said that in 2018, CO2 concentrations reached 407. 8 parts per million (ppm), compared with 405. 5 ppm a year earlier.
This increase has been above average for the last 10 years and 147 per cent of the "pre - industrial" level in 1750.
The WMO also records the concentrations of other warming gases, including methane and nitrous oxide.
About 40 per cent of the methane released into the air comes from natural sources and 60 per cent from human activities like cattle farming, rice cultivation and landfill dumps.
Methane is now at 259 per cent of the pre - industrial level.
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