Planet-Warming Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Surged to Historic Levels in 2025, WMO Says

Atmospheric concentrations of all three major planet-warming greenhouse gases reached new highs in 2025, committing the planet to rising temperatures for many years to come, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said.

When the UN agency released its first assessment 22 years ago, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations stood at 377.1 parts per million (ppm). Last year, they hit 426.8 ppm, a record high.

Carbon dioxide, a by-product of burning fossil fuels, biomass, land-use changes, and industrial processes such as cement production, is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, responsible for about three-quarters of planet-warming emissions. Its extremely long durability in the atmosphere commits the planet to rising temperatures “not just for years but for decades and even centuries,” WMO’s Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barret said on Tuesday.

Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels have increased by 153% since the 1750 pre-industrial baseline, with the vast majority of the rise occurring since 1990.

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