Geneva | The UN weather agency said Wednesday that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit new record highs last year, and heat trapped by such greenhouse gases is “turbo-charging” the Earth's climate and causing more extreme weather.

The World Meteorological Organisation said in its latest bulletin on greenhouse gases that C02 growth rates have now tripled since the 1960s, and emissions from human activities and more wildfires helped fan a “vicious climate cycle."

The Geneva-based agency said the increase of the global average concentration of carbon dioxide from 2023 to 2024 amounted to the highest annual level of any one-year span since measurements began in 1957.

“The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather," said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett in a statement. "Reducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being,”

The increase in 2024 is setting the planet on track for more long-term temperature increase, WMO said. It noted that concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide — other greenhouse gases caused by human activity — have also hit record levels.