--- title: "Congratulations, Buffoons! We Did More Global Warming Last Year Than in Any Other Year in Human History" description: "Despite increasingly dire global calls to curb deadly emissions, 2023 was apparently the worst year for global warming on record." date: "2024-10-31" modified: "2024-10-31" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/more-global-warming-2023-bulletin" categories: - "Environment" - "Global Warming" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "climate change" - "global warming" - "the digest" - "united nations" --- # Congratulations, Buffoons! We Did More Global Warming Last Year Than in Any Other Year in Human History ![Despite increasingly dire global calls to curb deadly emissions, 2023 was apparently the worst year for global warming on record.]() *\Image: Mario Tama via Getty\* ## Earth Crisis Despite [increasingly dire]() [global calls]() to curb [deadly emissions](), 2023 was apparently the worst year for global warming on record. In its [new Greenhouse Gas Bulletin](), the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found that atmospheric concentrations of [heat-trapping carbon dioxide]() are now growing more rapidly than at any other point in human history. Last year, CO2 concentrations surpassed 420 parts per million, the report found. According [to the ]()*[Washington Post](),* concentrations that high haven't been seen since millions of years before humans existed. "These are more than just statistics," WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo said in the report. "Every part per million and every fraction of a degree temperature increase has a real impact on our lives and our planet." Beyond simply warming the surface temperature, climate change has a [direct effect]() on the [increasingly erratic weather]() that has continuously [plagued the planet]() over the [past few years](). From last summer's Canadian wildfires that led to [asthma-related emergency room visits]() in New York City to this fall's unprecedented hurricane that [reached into the Appalachian Mountains](), it's beyond a shadow of a doubt now that the Earth is suffering under the brunt of our industrial byproducts. ## Disagree to Agree As Saulo pointed out, global decision-makers have missed the mark set by the [Paris Agreement]() that was drafted nearly a decade ago. During that 2015 meeting, world leaders pledged to take measures to limit each country's contribution to global warming — but nine years in, "[we are clearly off track]()." With this past summer beating temperature records [left and right](), human-related climate change is bound to be [even worse this year]() than the last. Nevertheless, many of the world's richest and most powerful people refuse to take on or even pledge to make meaningful widespread changes — including one who [may become president]() of the United States for the second time after next week's election. As [*WaPo* notes]() in its write-up of the WMO's report, our atmosphere's heat-trapping potential has increased more than 50 percent since 1990, the first year that the UN warned our planet was on track for devastating climate change. Hopefully, our planet's movers and shakers will do something about it within the next 30 years — because the [alternative is unthinkable](). **More on climate warnings:** [*Plants and Forests Absorbed Almost No Carbon Last Year, Shocking Climate Scientists*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()