Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Reported to Be at Record Highs

Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have hit record highs, according to the World Meteorological Organization, making the Earth more dangerous and inhospitable.

"Between 1990 and 2014 there was a 36 percent increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from industrial, agricultural and domestic activities," the meteorological organization said in a statement on Monday.

Researchers have long argued that greenhouse gases are fueling climate change and the WMO said it fears their continued rise will make Earth more dangerous and inhospitable for future generations to come.

"Every year we report a new record in greenhouse gas concentrations," said the organization's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud. "Every year we say that time is running out. We have to act now to slash greenhouse gas emissions if we are to have a chance to keep the increase in temperatures to manageable levels."

The United Nations News Center said the WMO report comes weeks before the U.N.'s climate conference in Paris. The conference, which will run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, is expected to create an outline for a new international agreement on climate change, says its website.

Jarraud said the rise in carbon dioxide to regularly above 400 parts per million has become a reality.

"This year marks an important first but that doesn't necessarily mean every year from now on will be a degree or more above pre-industrial levels, as natural variability will still play a role in determining the temperature in any given year," said Peter Stott, head of climate modeling and attribution at Met Office Hadley Centre near Exeter, England, per The Independent.

"As the world continues to warm in the coming decades, however, we will see more and more years passing the 1 (degree Celsius) marker – eventually it will become the norm," he said.

Climate change remains a hot button political issue in the United States. In a Pew Research Center survey, 25 percent of self-identified Republicans considered climate change to be a "major threat" while 65 percent of Democrats believed that it was, said the International Business Times.

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