Energy & Science
The Pandemic Worsened Climate Misery for Millions Last Year
Covid-19 precautions made evacuations and relief efforts more difficult, even as greenhouse gas pollution continued its rise.
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The Covid-19 pandemic did little to slow the rise of greenhouse-gas pollution in 2020—and much to complicate responses to humanitarian disasters, according to the World Meteorological Organization's State of the Global Climate 2020 report.
The report is filled with evidence of an often-repeated projection: Climate change will deliver the greatest suffering to people who had the least to do with causing it. More than 50 million people were “doubly hit” by climate-related disasters and Covid-19 restrictions, the WMO authors write.