WMO sees rise in greenhouse gases to record levels

AFP, 14 March 2006 - The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached record levels in 2004, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva said Tuesday.

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), which accounts for 62 percent of greenhouse gases found in the earth's atmosphere, rose by 0.47 percent compared with 2003, the WMO said in its first annual update on greenhouse gases.

Levels of carbon dioxide were 35 percent higher than in 1750, before the Industrial Revolution, said the UN agency, which based its observations on a worldwide monitoring network.

"Levels of carbon dioxide continue to increase steadily and show no sign of levelling off," it said.

"Given that the lifetime of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 50 to 200 years, depending on how you calculate it, ... it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to state that we're going to have this problem for a long time," Len Barrie, head of the WMO's environment division, told the media.

"If we stop CO2 emissions to the atmosphere now, it would take 50 to 100 years before we start to see approaches to pre-industrial levels."

In contrast, the concentration of methane, which accounts for 20 percent of greenhouse gases, stabilised in 2004 after increasing by 155 percent over the previous 250 years.

The concentration of nitrous oxide, which represents six percent of greenhouse gases, went up 0.22 percent in 2004 and by 18 percent since 1750.