Atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and sea levels reached new records in 2021, indicated this Wednesday (31) a report by the United States government, which shows that climate change is advancing despite efforts to curb emissions.
“The data presented in this report is clear: we continue to see more compelling scientific evidence that climate change has global impacts and shows no signs of slowing down,” said Rick Spinrad, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). .
The increase in greenhouse gases comes despite a reduction in fossil fuel emissions the previous year, when much of the world economy slowed dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US agency stated that the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere was 414.7 parts per million (ppm) in 2021, 2.3 ppm more than in 2020.
This is the “highest level in at least the last million years according to paleoclimatic records,” declared the annual state of the climate report by NOAA scientists.
The planet’s sea level rose for the tenth year in a row, reaching a new record of 97 millimeters above average in 1993, when satellite measurements began.
Last year was among the six warmest on record since the mid-19th century, and the past seven years were the warmest seven on record, according to the report.
The number of tropical storms was also well above average last year, including Typhoon Rai, which killed nearly 400 people in the Philippines in December, and Ida, which swept across the Caribbean before becoming the second-strongest hurricane to make landfall. US state of Louisiana after Katrina.
biggest disasters
Among the extraordinary events noted, the report cites that the famous cherry trees of Kyoto, Japan, bloomed in 2021, the earliest in the year since 1409.
Wildfires, which are also predicted to increase due to climate change, have been low compared to recent years, even as massive fires have ravaged areas in the western United States and Siberia.
The report came shortly after a study claimed that the Greenland ice sheet is already on the verge of melting to dangerous levels. This can cause serious damage to regions of the world where hundreds of millions of people live.
The planet is still far from the target set by the Paris Agreement in 2015 of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and thus avoiding the worst effects of climate change.
In August, the United States, the world’s largest economy, launched the most ambitious measures in its history to tackle its emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere.
