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.  

Canada's Summer

The wildfires in Canada burned 18.5 million hectares or about 71,000 square miles--an area the size of Washington State.

As of early October, 18.5 million hectares had burned across the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. Preliminary estimates from Natural Resources Canada show emissions from those fires amounted to roughly 2,400 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent – more than triple the 670 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent reported as Canada’s total emissions for 2021 in the most recent National Inventory Report.

Carbon Dioxide Concentration Highest in 14 million years

An article published in Science finds that 420 ppm of carbon dioxide corresponds to when the Earth was as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit warmer.

Too Little and Too Much

Robert Hunziker quotes an estimate of $200 trillion needed to achieve zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, the "production gap" is expected to be twice the level of fossil fuels by 2030 than what would be consistent with the 1.5 degree warming limit.

Increasing Rate of Warming

An article published in Oxford Open Climate Change called "Global warming in the pipeline" finds that the 

decline of aerosol emissions since 2010 should increase the 1970–2010 global warming rate of 0.18°C per decade to a post-2010 rate of at least 0.27°C per decade. Thus, under the present geopolitical approach to GHG emissions, global warming will exceed 1.5°C in the 2020s and 2°C before 2050.

Lead author James Hansen: 

The 1.5-degree limit is deader than a doornail. And the 2-degree limit can be rescued, only with the help of purposeful actions.

Uncharted

An article published in BioScience updates "vital signs" for the planet. There are now 20 of 35 at record extremes.

The effects of global warming are progressively more severe, and possibilities such as a worldwide societal breakdown are feasible and dangerously underexplored.

[W]e advocate for reducing resource overconsumption; reducing, reusing, and recycling waste in a more circular economy; and prioritizing human flourishing and sustainability. We emphasize climate justice and fair distribution of the costs and benefits of climate action, particularly for vulnerable communities. We call for a transformation of the global economy to prioritize human well-being and to provide for a more equitable distribution of resources. We also call to stabilize and gradually decrease the human population with gender justice through voluntary family planning and by supporting women's and girls' education and rights, which reduces fertility rates and raises the standard of living.