UN: Record levels of CO₂, methane and nitrous oxide in 2025 are exacerbating global warming
The World Meteorological Organisation reports an unprecedented acceleration in the rise in greenhouse gas levels, with climatic effects that will last for centuries.
Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reached new record levels in 2025, leading to climate impacts that will persist for centuries to come, the UN said on Tuesday.
The levels of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which are responsible for global warming – all reached unprecedented levels last year, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the United Nations agency for weather and climate, in its annual greenhouse gas bulletin for 2025.
Since the 1960s – it is emphasised – CO₂ growth rates have tripled.
“In short, we are warming the ocean and the atmosphere. This means that heatwaves, tropical cyclones and thunderstorms are intensifying more rapidly than our historical data had prepared us for,” said the organisation’s Deputy Secretary-General, Ko Barrett, during the press conference to present the bulletin.
