Published: November 10,2015
Carbon dioxide levels reached 397.7 parts per million in 2014, according the WMO, and soared above 400 ppm in the Northern Hemisphere during the spring. This is a problem because carbon dioxide levels have not soared this high in the past million years, and maybe far more.
Before the Industrial Revolution, when the mass burning of fossil fuels began, carbon dioxide levels were at about 278 ppm, according to the Washington Post.
“We are moving into uncharted territory at a frightening speed,” said Michel Jarraud, WMO Secretary-General, in a release.
(MORE: Global Warming's Fingerprints on 14 Extreme Weather Events in 2014)
As those levels continue to rise, so does the likelihood of carbon dioxide permanently remaining above the 400 ppm threshold sometime in the near future, the WMO warned. This will lead to warmer and warmer temperatures, melting ice and the increase of extreme weather events.
“It is an invisible threat, but a very real one,” added Jarraud.
The WHO report was released in advance of global climate talks, scheduled to be held in Paris in the coming weeks. The goal of the talks will be to develop a solution that limits global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above temperatures observed before the start of the Industrial Revolution, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.
Britain's national weather service predicted global temperatures will likely end the year 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which would be the first time that's happened in this era, CBS News reported.
"That's a symbolically important level as it's halfway to the 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) that governments have set as a limit to avoid dangerous levels of warming," wrote CBS News.
MORE: Climate Change's Impact on Our Ice
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