Surging CO2 levels a sign Canada must resist climate backsliding: scientist
By Canadian Press on October 15, 2025.
A leading Canadian climate scientist says a new report showing planet-warming carbon dioxide levels have soared to record amounts in 2024 is the latest sign Canada must resist pressure to backslide on climate action.
The World Meteorological Organization’s annual greenhouse gas bulletin says the CO2 growth rate, which has tripled since the 1960s, reflects a combination of continued fossil fuel emissions and reductions in how much is absorbed in forests, oceans and other natural “carbon sinks.”
Damon Matthews, a climate scientist at Concordia University, says it should be a wake-up call for governments in Canada and abroad to rapidly bring down emissions to stabilize the climate.
Matthews, a member of an independent federal climate advisory group, says Canada must resist the bullying by U.S. President Donald Trump who has assailed climate change as a “con job,” cancelled major renewable projects, pulled the U.S. out of the United Nations climate accord and urged global leaders to back off clean energy.
Wednesday’s report says the likely reason for the record CO2 growth was large contributions from wildfire emissions and reduced uptake from the land and the ocean in 2024, the hottest year on record boosted by a strong El Nino, a natural climate pattern.
About half of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere is absorbed by the Earth’s land ecosystems and oceans.
Yet, the report notes there are concerning signs that uptake is shrinking. As temperatures rise, oceans absorb less CO2. Land carbon sinks are also reduced by drier vegetation or more intense wildfires.
Matthews says the world has yet to hit a so-called “new normal.”
“We are nowhere near the new normal at the current trend. Things are going to continue getting worse and worse until we actually solve the problem fundamentally,’ said Matthews, an expert on carbon budgeting.
“We need to, you know, cut our emissions globally in half and then keep decreasing them towards zero in order to keep levels stable.”
The findings in Wednesday’s bulletin are consistent with a June report published by Matthews and more than 60 other scientists who found the world was on pace to produce enough greenhouse gas emissions in the next three years to blow past the international global warming target of 1.5 degrees, Matthews said.
United Nations climate chief, Simon Stiell, has said the Earth is now on track for 3 C.
The WMO’s bulletin comes ahead of the UN climate summit known as COP30, to be held next month in Brazil, where there will be calls for leaders to ramp up climate action.
“Sustaining and expanding greenhouse gas monitoring are critical to support such efforts,” Oksana Tarasova, co-ordinator of the WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, said in a statement.
Growth rates of CO2 have accelerated from an annual average increase of 2.4 parts per million per year in the decade from 2011 to 2020, to 3.5 ppm from 2023 to 2024, WMO said.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s global data for this year through June reveals that carbon dioxide rates are still rising at one of the highest rates on record, yet not quite as high as from 2023 to 2024.
– With files from The Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2025.
Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press
22-21
Well if you think Canada can make a difference, than I question your credentials and exactly what Canadian organization you lead?
Facts:
Canada only emits 1.4% to 1.6% of the world GHG’s and at very best could only reduce that amount to about 1% maybe, by cutting all industrial emissions.
China emits over 34%, the US 16%, and Russia which due to its war machine and oil and gas industry which is not monitored, emits about 8% not the 5% some state.
I would point out that right now the biggest threat to humanity is World War III and that the current war machine that currently is growing, would already surpass Canada’s emissions, by far!!!
China, the US and Russia alone emit almost 60% of the world GHG emissions.
China refuses to sign any emissions agreements and by far is the biggest emitters of world GHG’s, but is anyone going after them? I question the 34% and believe it is much higher!
Canada can make very little different, so where is this “leading scientist” getting his funding from and who is he representing? Zero common sense or understanding displayed by his ‘opinion’ so who is he really standing for . . . a foreign country? . . . a foreign organization? . . . a foreign petroleum organization trying to protect their market?
Whenever pipelines are talked about, these so called ‘experts’ rise up!
I am not going to get into the conspiracy theories or the WEF and UN trying to bankrupt the West so they can push their one world government agenda, but someone is pushing the propaganda machine that is trying to mislead Canadians! Do the math?
Alberta is a leader in carbon capture . . . there are projects already working, including a large state of the art petroleum refinery that has carbon capture and more innovative projects coming online in Alberta and Canada!
You think we are all fools and cannot understand the basics of who the biggest emitters are? Or know that since we can make little difference, the motives have zero to do with climate change or protecting the planet!!! ??