Greenhouse gases at record high in 2011: UN

AP In this Sept. 15, 2009 file photo, a deforested area is seen near Novo Progresso, in Brazil's northern state of Para. The Brazilian Amazon is arguably the world's biggest natural defence against global warming, acting as a “sink,” or absorber, of carbon dioxide.

                 The UN weather agency says concentrations of the main global warming pollutant in the world’s air reached a record high in 2011.

The World Meteorological Organization says the planet averaged 390 parts per million of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, up 40 per cent from before the Industrial Age when levels were about 275 parts per million.

WMO officials said on Tuesday there was a 30 per cent increase in the warming effect on the global climate between 1990 and 2011, mainly due to carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning.

WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said the 350 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere since 1750 “will remain there for centuries, causing our planet to warm further and impacting on all aspects of life on earth.”