While the gases most responsible for global warming - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - continue to climb, other industrial greenhouse gases are being brought gradually under control.
Carbon capture and storage gets a bad rap from its associations with ‘clean coal’. But the technology could prove vital in cutting emissions from other industries like steel, cement and chemicals.
Why use satellites to study Earth’s climate? Researchers leading a new mission explain how images from space will help them analyze which parts of the Americas soak up the most carbon.
Extreme wet years are getting wetter and more common. This means Australia’s terrestrial ecosystems will play a larger role in the global carbon cycle.
Bill Hare, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Niklas Höhne, Wageningen University
Phasing out greenhouse gas emissions entirely by mid-century is possible, and promising trends are emerging. But the next five to ten years will be the real test of whether we can make that happen.
Philip Lloyd, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Without understanding why the ‘fingerprint’ has failed to appear our predictions about global warming - as carbon dioxide concentrations increase - are uncertain.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements at Tasmania’s Cape Grim and Antarctica’s Casy Station have now officially passed 400 parts per million and are likely to stay above that for decades to come.