Photo Credit: NOAA
The World Meteorological Organization reported that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is accumulating faster than at any time in human history, with concentrations rising more than 10% in just two decades. It hit record levels in 2023 — 51% greater than before the Industrial Revolution, when people began to burn large amounts of coal, oil and fossil gas.
Source: Planet-heating pollutants in atmosphere hit record levels in 2023 | Climate crisis | The Guardian
The anti-poverty non-profit Oxfam reports that fifty of the world’s richest billionaires produce on average more carbon emissions in under three hours than the average British person does in their entire lifetime. Their jet flights alone emit as much carbon as the average person in the world would in 300 years. Their luxury yachts emitted as much carbon as the average person would in 860 years. It estimated that in the coming century 1.5 million excess deaths will be caused by the 2015-2019 consumption emissions of the world’s richest 1%.