Concentration of Greenhouse Gases in Air Reached All-Time High in 2020: EU Climate Center

Reading (United Kingdom) – The level of concentration of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere hit a record high last year since 2003 when climate monitoring started, the European State of the Climate 2020 report conducted by the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the EU revealed on Thursday.

“Atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 continued to rise and are at their highest levels on record,” the report read.

According to the estimates, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide increased by 0.6 percent annually since 2010 — the increase mainly blamed on CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels — while that of methane notched up by 0.4 percent annually.

In 2020, CO2 emissions increased “at a somewhat lower rate than in recent years, while CH4 increased more rapidly,” the report said.

“These changes are likely due to a slight reduction in emissions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and to warm temperatures leading to increased CO2 and CH4 fluxes associated with land surfaces,” the EU climate change center said in the report.