Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations measured over Cyprus have reached record-breaking levels, according to findings from the first five years of continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) led by the Cyprus Institute’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C). Greenhouse gases drive climate change in Cyprus and globally. The wider Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region has already been recognized as a global climate change hotspot. Long-term measurements of GHG emissions such as the one now carried out in Cyprus are essential for scientists to independently monitor these greenhouse gases, and the effectiveness of strategies for their reduction, in line with global efforts to address the climate crisis under the Paris Agreement.
Greenhouse gases act as a natural heat-trapping “blanket”, maintaining the Earth’s temperature at an average of 15°C. However, excess GHG emissions from fossil fuel combustion, agriculture, and industrial activities disrupt this balance, driving global warming and its cascading effects, such as rising temperatures, extreme weather, and environmental degradation.
Until recently, high-precision greenhouse gas measurements have been limited in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region, leaving a gap in the global monitoring of these long-lived gases that are well mixed in the atmosphere. To address this gap, the Cyprus Institute’s CARE-C, in collaboration with the Climate and Environment Sciences Laboratory (LSCE) in France and the University of Bremen in Germany, launched a long-term initiative to monitor the emission of key greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄).
The 5-year GHG measurements revealed that GHG concentrations over Cyprus have reached record-breaking levels, increasing year after year. In Ineia (in Paphos) for example, in January 2025 carbon dioxide concentrations exceeded the 430 ppm mark for the first time. These concentrations reflect the position of Cyprus, located in the outflow of European airmasses loaded with continental emissions. GHG concentrations reflect the amount of these heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, which are linked to emissions from human activities. Tiny variations of their concentrations across space contain information about their sources and sinks. Higher GHG levels amplify the greenhouse effect, driving climate change and its already adverse effects on ecosystems, weather patterns, and societies. Indicatively, according to a recently published
paper led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and The Cyprus Institute, around 1.6 million people each year already die from extreme heat, while by the end of the century, climate change and air pollution could risk 30 million lives annually.
As GHG concentrations continue to rise, long-term monitoring is essential to understand their sources and inform and evaluate the effectiveness of policies to reduce them to address the climate crisis. By establishing high-precision GHG measurement infrastructure, the Cyprus Institute plays a vital role in addressing this challenge for Cyprus and the wider EMME region.
Figure 1: Carbon dioxide measurements in Cyprus; Nicosia in green and Ineia in red. The light blue and orange lines represent measurements at the reference sites of Mauna Loa in Hawaii and Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. This plot highlights the sustained growth rate of CO2, where at the INEIA station, measured concentration has already exceeded the 430 ppm mark for the first time in January 2025.
Figure 2: Methane measurements in Cyprus; Nicosia in green and Ineia in red. The light blue and orange lines represent measurements at the reference sites of Mauna Loa in Hawaii and Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. CH4 also presents an increasing trend, with the INEIA site recording on average higher concentration levels than the European background site.
Contact: Prof. Mihalis Vrekoussis at: (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Data access:
INEIA : https://emme-care.cyi.ac.cy/data/ineia/
Mauna Loa : https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/data.html
ICOS-CP Jungfraujoch CO2 NRT : https://meta.icos-cp.eu/objects/co10PpHeje1nK0taqBlSCD6o
ICOS-CP Jungfraujoch CH4 NRT : https://hdl.handle.net/11676/ki9RAAfTGZQogp5e39AJbDnm
ICOS-CP Jungfraujoch CO2: https://meta.icos-cp.eu/objects/4-Kot58QX1b5u-e8SGD8XTPy
ICOS-CP Jungfraujoch CH4: https://meta.icos-cp.eu/objects/9BmAUqYgyNKW2hWP-Kq0X5sI
