World’s carbon dioxide levels hit a record high in 2024 – as oceans absorb less of it

Photosynthesis proves CO2 is not pollution

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This would be expected when temperatures rise as the article almost admits: ‘As global temperature rises, the oceans absorb less CO2 because of decreased solubility at higher temperatures’. But by blaming CO2 for the temperatures the report reverses cause and effect, ignoring the oceanic carbon cycle. A section headed ‘Carbon dioxide—continued emissions and less effective carbon sinks’ is an admission that carbon sinks are at least quite effective.
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere soared by a record amount to new highs in 2024, committing the planet to more long-term temperature increase, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin said continued emissions of CO2 from human activities and an upsurge from wildfires were responsible, as well as reduced CO2 absorption by “sinks” such as land ecosystems and the ocean—in what threatens to be a vicious climate cycle, says Phys.org. [Talkshop comment – define ‘as well as’].

WMO released the annual greenhouse gas bulletin to provide authoritative scientific information for the UN Climate Change conference in November. The COP 30 meeting in Belém, Brazil, will seek to ramp up climate action.

“Sustaining and expanding greenhouse gas monitoring are critical to support such efforts,” said Oksana Tarasova, coordinator of the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which is one of WMO’s flagship scientific reports and is now in its 21st issue.

Carbon dioxide—continued emissions and less effective carbon sinks
When the bulletin was first published in 2004, the annual average level of CO2 measured by WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network of monitoring stations was 377.1 ppm. In 2024 it was 423.9 ppm.

About half of the total CO2 emitted each year remains in the atmosphere and the rest is absorbed by Earth’s land ecosystems and oceans. However, this storage is not permanent. As global temperature rises, the oceans absorb less CO2 because of decreased solubility at higher temperatures, while land sinks are impacted in a number of ways, including the potential for more persistent drought.

The likely reason for the record growth between 2023 and 2024 was a large contribution from wildfire emissions and a reduced uptake of CO2 by land and the ocean in 2024—the warmest year on record, with a strong El Niño.

During El Niño years, CO2 levels tend to rise because the efficiency of land carbon sinks is reduced by drier vegetation and forest fires—as was the case with exceptional drought and fires in the Amazon and southern Africa in 2024.

Full article here.
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Image: Photosynthesis proves CO2 is not pollution