Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reach Record High, CO2 Growth Rate Triples

Greenhouse gas emissions have reached an all-time high, with the growth rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) tripling since 1960, according to a new study. By the end of 2025, atmospheric CO2 concentrations hit a record 426.8 parts per million (ppm), representing 153% of pre-industrial levels. Climate scientists warn that this sustained increase has locked in future temperature rises and are calling for urgent global action.

"Another year, another new record," said Ko Barrett, deputy secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). "Greenhouse gases are trapping an unprecedented amount of heat in the atmosphere, providing energy for more extreme weather and associated risks to our economies and societies." Barrett noted that CO2's long atmospheric lifetime means its effects will persist for decades and centuries.

Despite international commitments to green policies and Net Zero targets, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to climb. CO2 growth rates accelerated from an average of 0.8 ppm per year in the 1960s to 2.4 ppm per year between 2011 and 2020. The period from 2024 to 2025 saw a global average CO2 increase of 2.8 ppm, only slightly less than the previous year's exceptional surge.

Oksana Tarasova, a WMO scientific adviser, attributed the slightly more modest growth rate in 2024-2025 to the recovery of land carbon sinks and reduced fire emissions following the strong 2023-2024 El Niño event, which had diminished the biosphere's efficiency. She anticipates further concentration increases in 2026 due to fossil fuel burning and the potential development of another powerful El Niño.

This rise in atmospheric CO2 has significantly increased the planet's warming effect. Between 1990 and 2025, the cumulative warming effect, known as radiative forcing, increased by 56%, with CO2 accounting for 81% of this rise. Methane and nitrous oxide, the second and third most potent greenhouse gases, have also reached record concentrations. Methane is now at 1,948 parts per billion (267% of pre-industrial levels), and nitrous oxide has reached 339.1 parts per billion (126% of pre-industrial levels).

The study also highlights a concerning increase in pollutants associated with electrification, such as sulfur hexafluoride. Primarily used as a spark suppressant in electricity distribution, its concentrations have risen steadily over three decades. This gas has a lifespan exceeding 1,000 years and a global warming potential approximately 24,300 times that of CO2 over 100 years.

"We see a continued upward trend in the climate pollution that is annually dumped into the atmosphere," stated Professor Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist from Imperial College London. "While the pace at which global greenhouse gas emissions increase has slowed down from earlier decades, an increase still implies an evolution in the opposite direction of what would be necessary to avoid climate change from getting increasingly worse."

Scientists emphasize that the persistence of these gases means current increases will lead to years of future temperature rises. "We will breach the 1.5°C global warming above pre-industrial in the coming years," warned Professor Pierre Friedlingstein, an expert on the global carbon cycle at Exeter University. "Keeping warming well below 2°C will require rapid, deep and sustained GHG emissions reductions." He added that climate change will only cease when anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions reach net zero.

Despite the grim data, there are some promising indicators. Professor Piers Forster, director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures, noted that renewable energy generation surpassed coal generation in 2025. Furthermore, for the first time, increased electricity demand from electric vehicles, data centers, and air conditioning was met by renewable energy sources, while fossil fuel electricity generation slightly declined.

The Paris Agreement, established in 2015, aims to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to keep it below 1.5°C. The agreement also calls for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, followed by rapid reductions in accordance with the best available science.

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