Despite the impact of COVID-19, Global Greenhouse Emissions Reached an Extreme High

Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere hit a new record high in 2020, the United Nations Weather Bureau reported in a clear warning of worsening global warming. Carbon dioxide levels rose to 413.2 parts per million in 2020, an increase over the past decade, faster than the annual average despite a temporary decrease in emissions during the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report says that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, gases that warm the planet and cause extreme weather events like heat waves and heavy rains, were all above levels in the pre-industrial era before 1750. Secretary General Petteri Taalas warned that the current rise in heat storage gases would result in temperatures rising well over 1.5 ° C (2.7 ° F), far above the industrial average for this century.

The WMO report was based on information  gathered by a network that monitors the amount of greenhouse gases that remain in the atmosphere after some amounts of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels due to COVID-19 were absorbed by the oceans and the biosphere -Restrictions, it said.

The WMO report also raised concerns about the ocean and land's ability to absorb around half of carbon dioxide emissions, saying that ocean uptake could be reduced due to higher sea surface temperatures and other factors. These so-called sinks act as a buffer and prevent the possibility of more dramatic increases in temperature. 

Human-made carbon dioxide emissions, which result  primarily from burning fossil fuels such as oil and gas or from cement production,  account for around two-thirds of the warming effect on the climate. If similar patterns continue, then it’ll be extremely difficult to combat climate change.