Carbon dioxide and the other major greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels reached record concentrations in the atmosphere in 2025, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday, a buildup that will keep warming the planet for centuries regardless of how quickly emissions are cut from here. The statement is an accounting of gases already in the air, not a forecast of how much higher concentrations might still climb.
The agency, the United Nations' weather and climate science body, said the record extends beyond carbon dioxide to the other major greenhouse gases it tracks, and that the rise was driven by continued fossil fuel combustion. It described the 2025 levels as a commitment already made: warming tied to gases emitted this year will not be undone simply by slowing future emissions, because the gases themselves remain airborne for a very long time.
That persistence explains why a single year's atmospheric reading carries weight beyond the year itself. Carbon dioxide released today does not dissipate on a seasonal or even a decade-long clock; it lingers, continuing to trap heat long after the furnaces, engines, and power plants that produced it have been retired or replaced. A record set in 2025 is therefore not a snapshot that can be revised away later; it becomes part of the atmosphere's running total.
The WMO's statement does not say by how much the 2025 level exceeded the previous record, leaving the pace of the increase unspecified.
UN News reported the findings on 4 November 2026. UNCTAD says the war that shut the Strait of Hormuz in February pushed oil prices up everywhere, but the cost at the pump has been very uneven.
The figure amounts to some 240 million young people aged 11 to 17 who said they did not complete 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on a single day.
A new report from UNCTAD, the UN trade and development agency, says developing economies are paying the heaviest price at the pump, according to UN News, which reported on the findings on 4 November 2026.
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UN News reported the findings on 4 November 2026. UNCTAD says the war that shut the Strait of Hormuz in February pushed oil prices up everywhere, but the cost at the pump has been very uneven.
The figure amounts to some 240 million young people aged 11 to 17 who said they did not complete 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on a single day.