Greenhouse gases still at record levels despite lockdowns

30 Nov 2020

Image depicting In India, National Pollution Control Day is celebrated on 2 December every year. It is also called National Pollution Prevention Day.

Greenhouse gases still at record levels despite lockdowns

Greenhouse gases still at record levels despite lockdownsWhat are greenhouse gases?

Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere but they stop the heat from leaving the atmosphere.

Overall, greenhouse gases are a good thing. Without them, our planet would be too cold. However, today, there is too much of them in the atmosphere which causes our planet to become hot at a very fast rate.

The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been very little travel activity. This has led to a reduction of pollution and greenhouse gases.

However, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned that despite this, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are still at a very high level.

CO2 levels reached 410 parts per million in 2019. The final figure for 2020 is expected to be even higher

This year, we may not have been very active. But we have already put so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that it hasn't made much of a difference to the overall levels.

More CO2 in the atmosphere means more heat gets trapped. This leads to global warming which leads to ice melt, more extreme weather events and oceans becoming more acidic.

Scientists say that we should use this year to start and seriously fight climate change.
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