Wealth Gap Increasing

In their report, Inequality Inc, Oxfam finds that 

Since 2020, the richest five men in the world have doubled their fortunes. During the same period, almost five billion people globally have become poorer.

Oxfam estimates that the wealth of the bottom 60 percent of the world population (4.8 billion people with about 2.26 percent of total wealth) decreased from $10.51 trillion to $10.49 trillion (in constant dollars) from 2019 to 2022 (down 0.2 percent).  This amounts to about $2000 per person.

Meanwhile, the world's 2566 billionaires grew their wealth from $9.58 trillion to $12.84 trillion (in constant dollars) from 2020 to 2023 (up 34 percent).  This amounts to about $5,000,000,000 per billionaire.

One of the Coolest Years for the Rest of Our Lives

NASA announces another record-breaking year.

Earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980).

[This] was about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.4 degrees Celsius) warmer in 2023 than the late 19th-century average, when modern record-keeping began.

The European climate agency Copernicus estimates that 2023 was 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit (0.17 degrees Celsius) above the previous record in 2016. 

Update (January 19):  Two views of the temperature anomalies (with different baselines):

Last year is exceptional--compared to the past.