At a Glance

Carbon dioxide concentrations hit another record high in 2016, according to a new study.The last time concentrations were this high was at least 3 million years ago.Curbing greenhouse gas emissions is vital to preventing a worst-case global warming scenario, scientists say.

Global carbon dioxide levels are higher than they've been in millions of years, and the continued rise is a sign that our planet is headed in a dangerous direction, a new study has found.

Released Monday, the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin concluded global carbon dioxide concentrations , an increase from 400.0 ppm a year earlier. It's a 145-percent rise in carbon dioxide concentrations since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750, and humans had a large role in this rise, according to the report.

"Globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño event,"the report said.

Indian pedestrians walk near the India Gate monument amid heavy smog in New Delhi on Oct. 20, 2017, the day after the Diwali Festival.

(DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

The reason for alarm is that rising carbon dioxide concentrations are a driving force in global warming that's ongoing across the world. It has been some 3 to 5 million years since carbon dioxide levels were this high on Earth; the last time it happened, sea levels were 30 to 60 feet higher than they are now, and global temperatures were several degrees Celsius warmer, the study also said.

It's believed that global greenhouse gas emissions slowed in 2016, but because of an El Niño pattern that made droughts more intense and made vegetation less able to absorb carbon dioxide, the higher concentration was recorded, the study also said.

The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin is released by the World Meteorological Organization, which tracks worldwide greenhouse gas levels using a network of ships, aircraft andstations on land.

"Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century – well above the target ," said World Meteorological Organization chief Petteri Taalasin a statement obtained by the Guardian.