The world has just crossed another dangerous line. According to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels rose at a record rate in 2024, locking in more heat, drought, and extreme weather for years to come.
This is not just another scientific statistic, but a warning that hits close to home for Kenya’s farmers watching their maize dry before harvest, for coastal families in Lamu and Tana River fighting rising seas, and the general population feeling the sting of unpredictable rains, floods, a spike in food prices, and scorching heat.
The report, released ahead of the COP30 Climate Summit in Belém, Brazil, in November, paints a stark picture where carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 423.9 parts per million (ppm) in 2024, the highest ever recorded since measurements began in 1957. That’s up from 377 ppm just twenty years ago. In a single year, between 2023 and 2024, levels jumped by a record 3.5 ppm, the fastest rise in human history.
Scientists attribute the spike to continued human emissions, worsened by wildfires and the weakening ability of oceans and forests to absorb CO₂. These “carbon sinks”, which act as nature’s sponges, are losing their strength as rising temperatures dry out land and reduce the oceans’ ability to dissolve carbon.
In Kenya, that weakening is visible in our own backyards. Forests from the Mau to the Aberdares are shrinking under pressure from human activity and erratic rainfall. Our once-reliable weather cycles are wobbling and farmers now have to wait longer for rain that often comes too late or too heavy.
WMO scientist Dr. Oksana Tarasova warns that as land and oceans lose their ability to store carbon, even more CO₂ will stay trapped in the atmosphere, accelerating global warming.
And the problem doesn’t end with CO₂. Methane and nitrous oxide, which are gases released from livestock, farming, fertilizers, and waste, also broke records in 2024. Methane levels are now 166% higher than before the Industrial Revolution, while nitrous oxide has risen by 25%. Together, these gases are turbocharging extreme weather.
For Kenya, the rising global heat is not a distant problem, as it is the reason our dams are drying, our pastures are disappearing, and our coastlines are eroding. It’s behind the deadly floods that swept through parts of the country last year, and the unrelenting droughts that leave northern counties in crisis.
Kenya’s economy, heavily dependent on agriculture, is feeling the pain. Coffee and tea yields are dropping, livestock diseases are spreading, and fisheries are shrinking as lakes and rivers warm.
When food production declines, when boreholes dry up, when families are displaced by floods, climate change becomes an everyday reality for millions.
As global carbon levels continue to soar, experts say every country, including Kenya, must double down on cutting emissions, restoring forests, and adapting to the changing climate.
At the global level, the world’s biggest emitters, the industrialized nations, face mounting pressure to deliver real reductions, not just pledges. Without decisive action, scientists warn that global temperatures could exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, unleashing irreversible damage.
As WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett put it, “The heat trapped by greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and driving more extreme weather. Reducing emissions isn’t just about saving the planet. It’s about protecting our economies and our communities.”
For Kenyans, that means seeing climate action not as an abstract international debate, but as a fight for our farms, our jobs, our health, and our children’s future. The air above us may be global, but its effects are painfully local.
