UN: Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit A New Record, Cuts Fall Short

The U.N. weather agency says greenhouse gas concentrations hit a new record high last year and increased at a faster rate than the annual average for the last decade.

In its annual report on heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, the agency also said that parts of the Amazon rainforest have gone from being a carbon “sink” that sucks carbon dioxide from the air to a source of CO2 due to deforestation and reduced humidity in the region. The report’s release came days before the start of a U.N. climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

In a separate report, the U.N. climate office warned that the world remains off target for meeting its goal of cutting emissions and is on track for warming of 2.7 Celsius.