The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged by a record 3. 75 parts per million in 2024 — the fastest annual rise in recorded history. While emissions from fossil fuels reached new highs, scientists believe the spike was primarily driven by the failure of natural carbon sinks like rainforests and soils to absorb emissions. Drought, heat, and wildfires — intensified by the El Niño climate pattern — severely disrupted ecosystems in the Amazon and central Africa, possibly turning once-reliable absorbers of carbon into sources of pollution. As global temperatures rise, scientists fear we may be nearing a climate tipping point where nature’s ability to buffer human emissions collapses.