The concentration of greenhouse gases and sea levels on Earth reached new highs in 2021, according to a U.S. government report released Wednesday, demonstrating that climate change continues to accelerate despite efforts to reduce emissions.
The international yearly climate review, sponsored by scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information and published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), is based on contributions from over 530 scientists from more than 60 countries.
It offers the most thorough update on the planet's climate indicators, major weather incidents, and other information gathered by environmental monitoring stations and devices situated on land, sea, ice, and in space.
"The data presented in this report are clear - we continue to see more compelling scientific evidence that climate change has global impacts and shows no sign of slowing," Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.
The increase in greenhouse gas levels occurs despite a reduction in fossil fuel emissions the previous year as the world economy slowed dramatically due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
According to the U.S. EPA, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in 2021 will be 414.7 parts per million, 2.3 parts more than in 2020.
According to the annual State of the Climate report, the level is "the highest in at least the last million years based on paleoclimatic records,"
The world's sea levels climbed for the tenth year in a row, setting a new high of 3.8 inches (97 millimeters) above the average since satellite observations began in 1993.
Over the past 50 years, the ocean is thought to have captured more than 90% of the surplus energy that has been stored in the Earth's system as a result of greenhouse gases and other reasons.
Global ocean heat content increased further and hit new record highs in 2021, as measured from the ocean's surface to a depth of more than 6,000 feet.
According to the report, the past seven years have been the seven warmest on record, with last year ranking among the top six warmest years since the middle of the 19th century.
Last year saw an increase in the number of tropical storms, including Typhoon Rai, which killed over 400 people in the Philippines in December, and Ida, which crossed the Caribbean before becoming the second strongest hurricane to reach Louisiana after Katrina.
La Niña conditions, which began in mid-2020, persisted for the majority of 2021. The annual worldwide sea surface temperature in 2021 was 0.52 degrees Fahrenheit (0.29 degrees Celsius) higher than the 1991-2020 average, owing in part to La Niña. In 2021, around 57% of the ocean surface saw at least one marine heatwave.
