GHG Bulletin no. 5 By Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Nov 23, 2009 Greenhouse gas emissions have kept increasing, reaching a record level since the pre-industrial era, the UN climate agency warned Monday, just weeks before a crucial climate change summit.

“Levels of most greenhouse gases continue to increase,” said the World Meteorological Organisation in a statement. “In 2008, global concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which are the main long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, have reached the highest levels recorded since pre-industrial times,” it said. WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud noted that data confirmed the “tendency of exponential increase.” “It’s not really good news: concentration of greenhouse gases continue to increase, actually even a bit faster,” he said. “This is reinforcing the fact that we are actually closer to the pessimistic scenario” forecasted by scientists of the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, he said. … The WMO said since 1750, atmospheric carbon dioxide — the key driver of global warming — has increased by 38 percent, contributing to 63.5 percent of the growth in atmospheric greenhouse effect. In 2008, carbon dioxide levels reached 385.2 parts per million, up 2.0 ppm from a year earlier. Methane levels stayed stable from 1999 to 2006, but showed a “significant increase” in 2007 and 2008. …

Greenhouse emissions reach ‘record’ level: UN (Report: WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin)