The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached record levels last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday, warning that there was "no end in sight" for the trend. The warning comes weeks before world leaders gather in Dubai for the annual UN climate conference COP28, where governments will push for greater climate action, including a possible phase-out of fossil fuels before 2050. By 2022, global average carbon dioxide concentrations were a full 50 % higher than in the pre-industrial era for the first time, the UN Meteorological Agency said. "Despite decades of warnings from the scientific community, thousands of pages of reports and dozens of climate conferences, we are still moving in the wrong direction," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. Taalas said higher concentrations of greenhouse gases will be accompanied by more extreme weather events, including intense heat and precipitation, melting ice, higher sea levels, as well as ocean warming and acidification. (Reuters)