I maintain that this was a major driver of anti-mask / anti-lockdown efforts. Collective action in the face of calamity? Gotta nip that in the bud!

Yes. I read a an essay about this by a political scientist 15 years ago and it’s lived rent free in my brain ever since.

In a nutshell, he said, the more unstable and out of control the world seems, the more people are willing to cede power to authoritarian leaders.

That’s quite different from previous GCB reports where the land sink was slightly larger than the ocean sink.

Looking at the “bright” side, 35 economies are decarbonizing: reducing their fossil CO₂ emissions while having a growing economy.
Together they account for 27% of global fossil CO₂ emissions.

Looking at the major economies, Fossil CO₂ emission for
China: +0.4%. That’s much lower than the average growth of the past decade (+2.5%/yr). Progress here, largely due to the rapid development of renewable.

EU: +0.4%. Also opposite to the declining trend of the past 10 years (-2.5%/yr). Cold winter led to increased heating demand and weather-related low hydropower and wind generation led to an increase in electricity generation from natural gas.

1) Fossil fuel
Still no peak. Emissions are projected to increase by 1.1% in 2025, reaching 38.1 GtCO2. An all time high.