UN Weather Agency Reports Record Greenhouse Gas Levels for 2025, Ahead of COP31
Photo: CBS NewsAtmospheric concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) rose to record highs in 2025, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the U.N. weather and climate agency, said on Tuesday. In its 22nd annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, issued in Geneva, the WMO put carbon dioxide at 426.8 parts per million, methane at 1,948 parts per billion and nitrous oxide at 339.1 parts per billion. The CO2 figure is 153 per cent of the pre-industrial baseline. The agency said the rise will drive more long-term temperature increases. WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett said greenhouse gases are trapping an unprecedented amount of heat, fueling more extreme weather and risks to economies and societies. She said the past 11 years were the warmest on record and that CO2's long lifetime means it will affect the climate for decades and even centuries. The bulletin measures concentrations in the atmosphere, not new annual emissions. It comes ahead of the COP31 U.N. climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 20.
The right-leaning Daily Mail leads with "all-time high" emissions and a study finding that CO2 growth rates have tripled since 1960, rising from 0.8 ppm to 2.4 ppm a year. It says experts call for urgent action and contrasts the data with national green-policy and Net Zero commitments, saying emissions kept growing as renewable projects expanded. Its headline and text use "emissions" and "study" for what the WMO describes as concentrations. The left-leaning CBS News leads with the record concentrations and centers the lasting climate impact. It gives the WMO's three gas figures, notes the bulletin measures concentrations rather than annual emissions, and ties the report to the COP31 summit dates in Turkey, which the Daily Mail excerpt does not mention. Both feature the same Barrett quotes. The South China Morning Post largely matches CBS's wording in a brief summary of the WMO findings.
How the sides differ Right sources stress CO2 growth tripling and the gap with net-zero pledges; left sources stress long-lasting climate impacts and the COP31 timing; alternative sources mirror the left.
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CBS News leads with record concentrations of all three gases and their centuries-long impact, featuring WMO's Ko Barrett, the gas figures, and the upcoming COP31 summit in Turkey.
South China Morning Post gives a brief report that the UN weather agency found record levels of all three gases in 2025, with the WMO saying more long-term warming will follow.
The Daily Mail leads with emissions at an all-time high and CO2 growth rates tripling since 1960, quoting Ko Barrett and contrasting the data with Net Zero commitments.