LEVELS of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high last year, United Nations scientists have warned in the run-up to a key climate change summit in Glasgow next week. 

Concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere rose at a faster rate in 2020 than over the previous decade and the trend has continued this year, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a UN agency.

The economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic did not have any discernible impact on atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and their rate of accumulation, the WMO said.