2021 saw record-high greenhouse gases, sea levels and ocean heat, new report shows

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Source: ABC News via MSN

Last year saw record levels of major greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, released into the Earth's atmosphere, according to an international climate report. The annual State of the Climate report, published Wednesday in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society and led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information, also found that global sea level and ocean heat reached record highs in 2021.

. . . In 2021, the global annual average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was 414.7 parts per million (ppm) -- 2.3 ppm greater than the amounts measured in 2020, according to the latest State of the Climate report. That marks the highest amount measured since 1958 -- the start of the instrumental record -- and in at least the last million years, based on paleoclimatic records, the report found. It was also the fifth-highest growth rate in the modern record.

Two other major greenhouse gases -- methane and nitrous oxide -- also saw record concentrations last year, according to the report. The annual increase in methane was the highest in the modern record, and the growth rate of nitrous oxide the third-highest, it found.

. . . Last year was the fifth- or sixth-warmest on record, depending on the dataset referenced, with the last seven years (2015-2021) the seven warmest years on record, according to the report.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/2021-saw-record-high-greenhouse-gases-sea-levels-and-ocean-heat-new-report-shows/ar-AA11kk6Z

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Hmmm, the 7 warmest years on record occurred in the last 7 years.

Global average ocean temperature down to more than 6,000 feet also set a record, even though La Nina cooled the surface.

The climate report, now in its 32nd issuance, is based on contributions from more than 530 scientists in over 60 countries.

What's sad is that none of this is surprising.

Happy September First Day